Sen. and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden’s declaration that the nation of Israel ought to “reconcile itself to the nuclearization of Iran” is tantamount to suggesting a woman ought to “lay back and enjoy it” should she become a victim of rape.
Biden’s assertion, reported last week by the Jerusalem Post, went conveniently unnoticed by the establishment press, but was nevertheless addressed by more conscientious media outlets and personalities that experienced the same outrage as this columnist. Forget the senator’s part in the megalith of Washington politics-as-usual, away from which Obama claims to gravitate, Biden’s lifelong membership in the Brotherhood of the Public Teat (read “career politician”) and the fact that the entire Obama campaign is a bizarre, dangerous joke. Among the most fearful of our entrenched leftists, Joe Biden exhibits the quintessential lack of introspection and elitism many such as myself criticize.
Initially an Iraq war opponent, the senator advocated essentially diplomatizing Saddam Hussein’s regime until the next cycle of the cosmos began. Biden, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was no doubt chosen by Obama for his alleged experience in the area of foreign policy. However, a little research – easy for any of us in this age of accessible information – reveals that the senator’s foreign policy has been in question for a long time. Now, when there’s a wealth of critical review on a liberal Democrat in the press, two things can be presumed:
- The party in question has been around long enough to be thoroughly vetted, and
- The party in question has probably earned said critical review.
Despite Biden’s having finally voted in favor of the Iraq invasion in 2002 (along, apparently, with nearly everyone in the Senate besides Barack Obama and a few others), his blatant anti-Iraq war pandering since has been a staple of press coverage over the last few years. Conversely, Biden’s comportment during President Clinton and NATO’s tack in the Kosovo war (1996-1999), including NATO’s 1999 bombing campaign, was uncharacteristically hawkish. That bombing, during which NATO targeted Yugoslav military and civilian targets, was deemed unnecessary by congressional Republicans and arguably resulted in the Serbs’ subsequent ethnic cleansing of the area.
The “it’s OK if our guys do it” mentality ought to give grave pause to all considering this man potentially serving as vice president. It is likely that Biden would be a more powerful, hands-on VP (à la Dick Cheney) than, say, an Al Gore, particularly since the president in such a scenario would be weak in so many areas of experience.
This would be – as is said – very bad.
His vaunted foreign-policy judgment is seriously flawed. Although he was not as irresponsible as other Democrats in calling for an immediate pullout from Iraq, he opposed the surge and plugged for an unworkable plan to partition the country, one long ago overtaken by events, even though his office was saying as of only a week ago that he still supports it.
“Candidate of Caution,” National Review, Aug. 23, 2008
Though perhaps Biden’s overview of the Israel-Iran issue may be a reasonable expectation for someone who has existed in the insular, rarified abundance of the Beltway for the past 35 years, the last thing we need is another Jimmy Carter managing our Iran policy again. If Israel were to flatten Tehran tomorrow, so much the better. Only the fool ponders overmuch when a violent felon threatens one’s family with death. The course is clear, and the neighbors’ opinions be damned.
Biden’s statement, which a spokesman has since denied the senator ever uttered, is but a foretaste of the sort of blithering foreign policy to which we can look forward if Obama-Biden triumphs in November. From killing the amendment (H.R. 4444) that would sanction China in the event that they were to sell illicit weapons of mass destruction, to supporting every measure favoring unfettered foreign aid packages, Joe Biden has proven himself to be a consummate political prostitute as well as a force for the United States’ geopolitical demoralization.
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