Biden Calls for Pulling Out American Troops by Summer
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WASHINGTON – America should pull troops from Iraq after this summer if the political conditions in the country do not improve, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said yesterday.
Senator Biden of Delaware, who is aiming for the 2008 presidential race, said the Iraqis must have a constitution that unites fighting factions of the society or “it’s game over.”
“We can’t want peace in Iraq more than the Iraqis want it,” Mr. Biden said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We can’t want it more than they want it. And if they don’t step up to the ball, we’re going to be gone.”
Mr. Biden said if knew what he knows now when Congress voted on the Iraq war resolution, he would have opposed it. “This has been a debacle,” he said.
Senator Allen, a Republican of Virginia, said he agrees that it is vitally important for the Iraqis elected in February’s parliamentary elections to form a government. But Mr. Allen, also a presidential hopeful, said he is unwilling to set a specific deadline.
Mr. Allen said the situation among the Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis is “going tough.”
“Politically, action needs to be taken,” Mr. Allen said. “They need to come together and then I think there will be greater confidence on part of the people of Iraq.”
