Biden's son headed to Iraq in 2008

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Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON - The son of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is preparing for deployment to Iraq next year. Capt. Beau Biden, a Judge Advocate General in the Delaware National Guard and the state's attorney general, is part of the 261st Signal Brigade that has been told to prepare for duty in Iraq in 2008. They have not been given a date of deployment yet.\

"I don't want him going," Delaware Sen. Joe Biden said from the campaign trail Wednesday, according to a report on Radio Iowa. "But I tell you what, I don't want my grandson or my granddaughters going back in 15 years and so how we leave makes a big difference."

Biden criticized Democratic rivals such as Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama who have voted against Iraq funding bills to try to pressure President Bush to end the war.

"There's no political point worth my son's life," Biden said, according to Radio Iowa. "There's no political point worth anybody's life out there. None."

Lt. Col. Len Gratteri, spokesman for the Delaware National Guard, said Beau Biden is not being treated differently because of his office or because his father is running to be commander in chief.

"He's a deployable asset just like any other soldier in that unit," Gratteri said.

Two other presidential candidates, Republicans John McCain and Duncan Hunter, have sons who've been in military units deployed to Iraq.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070816/ap_on_el_pr/biden_son

[shance]

1. I hate to sound 'unappreciative' but will Mr. Biden's son see anything other than a desk job

and some photo ops?

[ohio2007]

7. He is a "Legal Eagle" ( Lawyer officer)

I remember photos of an army journalist reporting for Stars and Stripes in Viet Nam.
Al Gore.

Never read the stuf he wrote while n 'Nam.

[Robson]

24. Actually just being in Iraq puts one at heavy risk....

unless you are one of the many VIPS such as Congressmen, Bush, Cheney or McCain that visit under VERY heavy security and then claim that they were in a combat zone.

[olddad56]

2. a deployable asset...has a nice ring to it....

that is an asset that can often depreciate to zero in an instant.

[shaniqua6392]

3. God bless him and keep him safe.

My support goes out to Senator Biden and his family.

[still_one]

4. funny but this was an illegal invasion that biden voted for

interesting the immorality cuts both ways

"I don't want my grandson or my graddaughters going back in 15 years"

Biden, your a frickn' IDIOT, what business do we have in Iraq

I hope your son is safe, but SCREW YOU, you plagerizing ahole, who has helped kill over 3600 American soldiers so far, and over 600000 Iraqiis

How can you live with yourself?

[karynnj]

10. The decision made in March to invade was Bush's

From the Downing street memos, it is clear they would have invaded if this was a resolution or not. The main impacts of the IWR were that it likely delayed the war about 5 months, got very invasive inspections, and enabled both the left wing and the right wing to say it was a Democratic as well as Republican war.

Biden was half of Biden/lugar - the amendment that Dean backed in 2002. It had the backing of many Democrats over the IWR - but it was dropped after Gephardt and Lieberman appeared in the Rose Garden with Bush making it clear that Bush had the votes needed to pass the IWR. The efforts os many Sentors turned to trying to improve that bill.

The truth is that Bush would have gone to war with the IWR, with Biden/Lugar or the Levin Amendment. He would have gone to war without any amendment.

[still_one]

14. Perhaps, but voting FOR the IWR was a definite violation of the War Powers Act

and those who voted for it should have known better, especially since they were all around during Viet Nam

Speculating that they would have invaded whether there was a resolution or not, that may be, but if there wasn't a resolution, then the war powers act would have kicked in after 90 days, and the Congress would have been forced to either declare war, or start to withdraw troops.

Congress DID NOT DO THEIR JOB, and except for those few couragous members, which didn't include Biden, things WOULD BE DIFFERENT today. They effectively GAVE the power to the executive branch that they never should have given it

[karynnj]

15. I agree that it would have been better if they all voted against it

but I do not think things would have been different. I think that Biden, who I dislike, was among the people trying to constrain Bush. Was Dean wrong to have supported Biden-Lugar in 2002?

The reality was Bush already had troops in the Gulf and the DSM show he was willing to fabricate a provocation. The War Powers act would have required Congress to overtly declare a war that our country would already have joined . How many Senators do you think would have voted against a war in progress? (Or, as the Republicans would put it, against the troops. ) In March 2003, after the invasion started, there was a 99-0 vote that supported the troops and war. (Byrd was absent). Had there been no IWR, the resolution to back the war would have been exactly like that.

I marched in both DC and NYC with my husband and teen daughters before the invasion. I was against invading - but I do not believe that the Congress could have stopped Bush. Once there were enough declared votes for the IWR, there were only two choices for Senators against invading unless there was an imminent threat. One was to vote against it and know that though it would happen, you could be shown to have opposed it. Though the right vote, because Bush was not negotiating in good faith, it was also a very sober pessimist vote against a resolution that was going to pass.

The other was to try to negotiate changes in the language to take out wording that stretched beyond Iraq and explicitly listed reasons other than an imminent threat as cause to invade. (I realize that people here have said that because it is the President who was to determine what "imminent threat" was this gave Bush a blank check. However, if Bush, who had the ability to commit troops, could abuse this - he could abuse anything.) I wonder if any of the Senators promised their votes to get some of the changes - and were more honorable about keeping their word than Bush was. Here, the defeat of Durbin's amendment that EXPLICITLY limited it to WMDs, in retrospect, should have been the point where Senators switched from "yes, but" to "no,but." Many Democrats likely hoped that pushing Bush into a process where he went to the UN and revived the inspections - both of which Bush was against in summer 2002 - could possibly delay an imminent war and maybe avoid it.

[still_one]

19. You are correct, they would have invaded either way

and you are also right on target that it would have been better not to vote for the IWR, but there was no excuse for the patriot act, except for fear of being labeled as weak on terrorism

In 2008, the Democrats will have my vote, but not because I am proud of how they have behaved the past 7 years



Best Regards

[karynnj]

23. The Patriot act was more complex

There were parts of it that were good. For example, after his BCCI work in the early 1990s, Senator Kerry wrote legislation that dealt with international money laundering. The Republicans and Democrats who were associated with the banking interests blocked it. Kerry's bill was taken and used as the basis for that part of the Patriot Act. Even Feingold spoke of the legislation having many good parts, but felt there were parts so bad that he was willing to stand alone against it. There was a sunset clause that insured it would be looked at again.

The second time it came up - they did take some of the very worst parts out, but what passed still had flaws - again many Senators again accepting it because the alternative was likely that they would keep the exisiting law - no one wanted there to be nothing. Feingold was joined by several other Senators (I know Kerry and Kennedy) in introducing an amendment to get rid of the features they were still troubled by. At that time they said they would push it when it could pass.

Best regards to you as well.

[IndianaGreen]

5. I am waiting for the Romney boys and the Bush girls to go off to war!

Jenna Bush can experience that millions of spouses have gone through our history. Marry her sweetheart, only to see her fat ass shipped off to war.

Since Hillary supports keeping troops in Iraq in an occupation mode beyond 2009, Chelsea can join Jenna in her misery. Tent Hut!

[unkachuck]

20. tail-gunner Beau....

....a few pics, a few strings, and he might make senator like his old-man....be still my heart....

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ohio2007]

8. You one of those Iraqi doctors that got jobs in English hospitals?

alla ahkbar

[CJCRANE]

12. There's no piper

just Halliburton & Big Oil.

[Jacobin]

9. JAG. He'll be a Greeny

Green Zone only and it probably won't be overrun for a couple of years.

[sanskritwarrior]

11. What do you mean Green Zone only?

Are you implying that the Green Zone is full of JAG officers and other MOS' that don't see combat......

And if so based on what?

Because if you are claiming that, I would love to school you on how people are deployed in Iraq......There are JAG officers in Baqubah and Infantrymen in the Green Zone.......People are assigned to units, each unit has an MTOE, and each MTOE requires all MOS' to make the unit work......

I have a lot more to say based on the answers to your questions.......You act like the Green zone is some place people go to, to find cushy jobs.........it's the exact opposite, no one wants to go the Green Zone as it is one of the most heavily mortared and rocketed zones in the country and there is nothing to do there.......No NCO or Officer worth their salt wants to servea tour in the Green Zone, and yet the urban legend persists that it is where people "hide out" to avoid combat.......... :eyes:

[Jacobin]

13. A friend of mine was

in the JAG and deployed there during 2004. His most harrowing experiences were going to and from the airport from the Green Zone which he didn't leave, except to go to the airport.

Also, Life in the Emerald City is a pretty good description of what and who is in the Green Zone. My information may be dated as things have deteriorated since 2004.

I suspect that dodging mortar attacks behind 20 foot concrete blast walls would be safer than going on missions and being exposed to IEDs which are the biggest killers of our troops

[sanskritwarrior]

17. Things have slightly improved

outside of Baghdad and gone to hell inside the city. As for dodging mortars a high trajectory weapon like a mortar will kill you if it lands in a close enough proximity, an IED needs so many things to go right (good construction, good emplacement, triggerman that can estimate trajectory, proper explosive useage, and weak armor) to hurt an American....A Mortar lands within 50 meters and there is no wall in the way, you are seriously fucked up. I am more scared of mortars and rockets than I am of IED's.....

With an IED if your Hummer armor is suffcient and it is not an EFP (not too many of those yet) you will emerge relatively unscathed....If a mortar hits your CHU (Containerized Housing Unit) you are dead.......

So yeah mortars and rockets are very innacurate but if they hit close enough you will die, IED's need a direct hit, proper explosives, and weak armor to do anything nowadays........

[ohio2007]

22. thats a good assesment as to why civilian death rate is so high

target a convoy and the miss is reported as a civilian death toll.

[LeftishBrit]

16. I hope he'll be OK..

I don't like the thought of anyone going into danger; but perhaps if more senior politicians had children there, they might bring the war to an end.

[LiberalFighter]

18. Do they get that much notice of when they get deployed?

[ohio2007]

21. If your in the military, consider yourself always on stand bye

and here is a pov the msm won't run;

Killing Field

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=792_1186411086

why ?
bc only 'stringers' report news from beyond the wire and they know what $tories m$m want$

jmo