Posted on 06/15/2014 6:31:34 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The advance of Islamic militants across Iraq has brought fresh criticism for the Obama administration — but may also deliver a grim measure of vindication to one very prominent White House official: Vice President Joe Biden.
In recent months, former officials and pundits questioned and even ridiculed Biden’s foreign policy acumen.
Former Defense Secretary Bob Gates wrote in his memoir that Biden “was wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue of the past four decades.” And former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s new book “Hard Choices” notes that Biden “remained skeptical” about launching the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011 — and that others in the administration were at odds with Biden. “I thought we should go for it,” Clinton states, a contrast she has also drawn attention to on the road since leaving office.
This week paints Biden’s judgment in a far different light.
Recent events in Iraq call attention to his prediction nearly a decade ago that the war-torn nation was heading towards a break-up along sectarian lines — and to a prescription he offered to try to manage that reality by granting Sunnis, Shia and Kurds greater autonomy over various parts of the country.
In other words: while Biden may have taken a beating repeatedly in recent years for some foreign policy calls he’s made, his judgment on Iraq’s capacity to stay united now looks almost prescient.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Blind pig and truffles comes to mind!
No doubt that an advisor gave Joe the idea.Nothing comes out of that swamp known as Biden’s mind.
Should have divided Iraq up into sections a dozen years ago. Iraq boundaries were arbitrary, as the area is tribal in nature, and was never a stable country.
Hey, a broken clock is right twice a day.
The question being decided as we watch is who gets Baghdad and where will the southern line between Sunni and Shia territories be drawn?
Joe Biden right? Snort...
This guy is a one-man refutation of the principle of a stopped clock being right twice-a-day. A stopped Biden clock would maybe be half-right once a day, at best.
And that would be after a session in the Krell ‘brain boost’ headgear...
Biden did not and does not know what he is talking about. A stupid comment about dividing up Iraq years ago does not explain the many Obama administration errors that have led to the current disaster in the middle east.
It seems likely that Biden kept a back channel open to his colleagues in the senate. No one in the administration can be blamed for his “insights.”
By what method would the various sects be horded into their assigned areas? And how would said division be maintained?
Partitioning Iraq would seem a sensible idea.
In 20/20 hindsight this seems like a good idea...
I would propose no matter how the country is divided...there will still be civil war, three factions instead of two...
Islamist have blood lust breed into them...
There are not really happy unless they are killing each other...
I say....may they be overcome with happiness...
As if he came up with that idea. People have been saying that for decades.
The biggest problem with letting the different groups have more autonomy is that it would destabilize the region even more. All of those groups would spend more time trying to kill each other. If the world wants oil from the Middle East, then it will have to tolerate the necessary evil of strongman dictators keeping the tribal populations within their arbitrary borders in check. Of course, destabilization opens the door for Iran, Russia, and Chinato fill the power vaccuum.
This has some interesting information about the current events in Iraq. IMO.
". . . Ankara has entered into energy deals with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), something which has infuriated the central Iraqi government in Baghdad but which has helped the Kurds further build a foundation for their independence [yes true that] Ankara has been so alarmed by the growing Kurdish autonomy [in Syria and tolerated by Syria, I believe] that it reportedly has provided support for [ISIS] in their fight against the Kurdish militia that controls the region [of Syria],which is affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)." [my emphasis]
more..
". . . the takeover by ISIS in recent days of Mosul and other cities . . . Ankara will likely not only have to deepen its relationship with the KRG . . . but also alter its approach to the Kurds in Syria [I ask: but demand that the Kurds in Syria reject the PKK?]"
more..
"Explains Lehigh University professor and Turkey expert Henri Barkey in an analysis piece on Al-Monitor website: The crisis may force the Turks to rethink some of their policies in Syria. To date, Ankara’s friendship with the Kurds stopped in Iraq; Erdogan and his government have taken an uncompromising position against Syrian Kurds led by the Democratic Union Party of Kurdistan (PYD), an offshoot of the Turkish Kurdish insurgent group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The PYD has emerged as the strongest Kurdish group in Syria and has put together an impressive fighting force to defend its territory from both ISIS and the regime. The idea of another autonomous Kurdish region on its borders after the KRG has been anathema to Ankara. Paradoxically, the PYD’s armed elements are some of the only ones that have scored blows against the jihadists. In the face of the ISIS sweep, the PYD and the KRG, which have also had antagonistic relations, appear to be cooperating on defensive measures against ISIS. Turkey may have to reconsider its boycott of the Syrian Kurds to enlarge the anti-ISIS coalition." [my emphasis]
Please don’t fall for this cap. Which part of dividing Iraq between Iran and Al Queda is a good idea?
Because that’s what’s happening.
Yep — and Tacit was right too.
Some of us having been saying that for a decade...there needs to be two territories or more in Iraq, for any hope of a somewhat peaceful solution.....but now that the US is out of Iraq that ship has sailed.
The time to do it was while we occupied the country...there was discussion but the leaders did not want to displace the Iraqis from their homes to a new place..well, h3$$ aren’t they displaced now?
This conflict between Sunni-Shiite will really be a roller coaster ride with Turkey, Pakistan, and Iran being involved in various ways...including Kurds etc. Turkey Embassy employees already hostages as of yesterday by ISIS...about 80 individuals surrendered peacefully to militant ISIL/ISIS terrorists.
Here is latest info I could find that helped see Iraq soldiers are now engaging the ISIS:
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