Another Lie: Palin Falsely Claimed Biden Supported McCain's Iraq Policies Until This Campaign

[ErinBerin84]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/another_palin_lie_debunked_bid.php

TPM: Another Lie: Palin Falsely Claimed Biden Supported McCain's Iraq Policies Until This Campaign


In the debate, Palin said:

"And you had supported John McCain's military strategies pretty adamantly until this race and you had opposed very adamantly Barack Obama's military strategy, including cutting off funding for the troops that attempt all through the primary. And I watched those debates, so I remember what those were all about."


The claim that Biden supported McCain's policies "pretty adamantly until this is race" is essentially a lie, and the record proves it.


The most recent example we can find of Biden being vocally supportive of McCain's Iraq policies was four years ago. That was when he agreed with McCain's call for more troops in an exchange with McCain on Meet The Press on May 16, 2004:

McCain: We have to increase U.S. troop strength to do the jobs that's necessary.
Biden: I agree.


It's true that Biden did vote to authorize the war back in 2002, and did agree with McCain about more troops in 2004. But from then on, Biden strongly differed with McCain about Iraq on a number of occasions.

In November 2005, Biden voted voted for the Levin Amendment, which called for a phased redeployment out of Iraq. John McCain voted No.

Then. as the surge policy was being rolled out in late 2006 and early 2007, Biden became one of its most vocal opponents. Biden's position was that a surge of forces would have helped years earlier, but by this point, he said, it was too late for a surge to repair the fundamental political fractures in Iraq.


snip

On occasion at that time, Biden even criticized McCain directly on the surge. On October 19, 2006, Biden appeared on CNN and blasted McCain for not giving sufficient support earlier to the position that we needed more troops back in 2004. On December 3, 2006, Biden appeared on Fox News Sunday and criticized McCain again. Appearing on CNN's American Morning on December 26, 2006, Biden rebutted McCain's position.

snip

Basically the only evidence the GOP can point to of Biden favoring McCain's position and opposing Obama's is that Biden voted in the spring of 2007 for the war-funding bill that didn't include a timetable, and then criticized Dems like Obama who had voted against it.

But that doesn't change the fact that Biden still favored a timetable as a policy, and only voted with McCain because Biden doesn't vote against troop-funding bills on principle. And even then, this was after McCain had voted against a funding bill that did include a timetable. In an overall sense, he opposed McCain's views as too little and too late.

In short, Biden agreed with McCain four years ago, and the two broke apart on the long-term plan for Iraq beginning in 2005, and continued drifting further and further apart from then on. Meanwhile, within the Senate, Biden and Obama's policies on Iraq have been virtually identical, with the exception of only a handful of votes and public statements -- and both have been near-polar opposites of McCain.

[groovedaddy]

1. I still don't understand why Obama says the surge worked...tamped down violence yes...

but one rather large component of the "surge" was political reconciliation between Suni & Shiite & Kurds.
That critical piece of the "surge" is as far away as it ever was. There has been the theory that insurgents (both Suni & Shiite) decided to lay back until the U.S. leaves and then will settle their scores. Look at the experience of the Soviet block countries and Yugoslavia, where sectarian differences were squelched, but never went away. As soon as the communist regimes fell away, the old sectarian violence came to the fore.
This point to the key element of Obama's exit plan - it forces the Iraqis to make critical decisions that they are unlikely to EVER make with an unending occupation. McCain provides no benchmarks/conditions for withdrawal. If we "surrendered," would Iraq get to occupy the U.S.? ;->

[MarjorieG]

2. Importantly, tried to have Biden-Lugar enacted, requiring Bush to Congress after inspections.

Rather than the IWR. From then on, after its failure, all hoped/thought it would get stopped at UN with Powell.