Biden's Iraq-Only Debate Falls Largely on Deaf Ears

June 8, 2007— -- Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., enjoys a good debate.

He'll debate in the Senate. He'll debate on the campaign trail. And as he proved Wednesday night, he'll debate even if there's only a handful of other presidential contenders around.

Biden, who has served in the Senate since 1972 and is in the midst of his second bid for a promotion to the Oval Office, challenged his fellow Democratic contenders to an Iraq-only debate; only two longshot nomination rivals -- Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska -- took him up on the offer.

Gravel, Kucinich Join Iraq Debate

Delayed by a Senate vote on immigration, Biden ceded the stage to Gravel, who repeatedly referred to himself as "the crazy uncle," lambasting his fellow Democrats for not using the congressional power of the purse to end the Iraq War.

In his 40 minutes at the podium, Gravel attacked the other Democrats in the race as incompetent or overtly political in voting for the war.

The former senator, who railed against the Vietnam War during his time in Congress, compared Gen. David Petraeus to Gen. William Westmoreland, and pitched his own plan for Iraq, which involves jailing members of the executive branch if they persist with the war after a heretofore unplanned congressional vote declares it illegal.

Kucinich also arrived late but before Biden, and took the stage after Gravel.

The Ohio Democrat offered a plan for Iraq that would immediately cease funding the war and replace the current occupying army with a new force, composed primarily of troops from Iran and Syria.

In a wide-ranging presentation, the congressman expounded on his holistic principles, the encyclicals of Leo XIII and Paul VI, physics, Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Jesus Christ and "punctual equilibrium and the transformation of the species."

Biden's Plan

Shortly after nine o'clock, Biden arrived to relief in the somewhat restless and befuddled crowd; the applause as he approached the podium was loud and sustained.

Biden began by admonishing the other Democratic candidates for refusing the invitation: "Iraq dominates our national debate, and I believe it deserved at least one 90-minute debate, but it turns out that other than my two colleagues, the rest of the folks didn't conclude that it was equally important. I'm a little disappointed that my colleagues didn't show, but maybe together, even without the others, we can advance this national debate."

The senator argued for the repeal of the 2002 authorization for war as the best means for bringing home U.S. troops, while acknowledging that some forces would have to remain in Iraq.

"In place of the 2002 resolution," Biden told the crowd, "we should dramatically limit the mission of our troops in Iraq, to get them out of the middle of a sectarian civil war and to focus them on the much narrower, achievable and necessary mission of denying al Qaeda territory, training Iraqis and protecting themselves."

Biden's candidacy is centered on foreign policy, particularly U.S. policy in Iraq.

"If we fail to make federalism work, there will be no political accommodation at the center. Violent resistance will increase. The sectarian cycle of revenge will spiral out of control. The result will be at best the violent breakup of Iraq into multiple states, at worst the total fragmentation of the country," Biden said.

The senator also defended his support of the emergency supplemental bill to fund the war, a vote which has made him the target of liberal groups, most notably MoveOn.org, saying, "So long as we have a single soldier left in Iraq, it is our most sacred responsibility to give him the best protection this country can provide."