Joe Biden's Plan

For years, I have looked to Joe Biden and John McCain for cues on American politics and foreign policy. I valued their perspective because of their centrist political stances, apparent intellect, and relative candor. Alas, they are both positioning themselves for a Presidential campaign and appear to be moving away from the center, dumbing down, and talking more like typical politicians.

Nevertheless, their viewpoints are better than most and worthy of consideration. McCain's support for a troop increase is well known, but what about Biden's view? The president has complained that critics are not offering alternatives, so I decided to see what Biden is putting out on the subject. It turns out that he is promoting 5 point plan on his website, http://biden.senate.gov/

FYI- Here is the "Biden Plan for Iraq":

A Five Point Plan for Iraq

1. Establish One Iraq, with Three Regions
Establish three largely autonomous regions with a strong but limited central government in Baghdad Put the central government in charge of border defense, foreign policy, oil production and revenues Form regional governments -- Kurd, Sunni and Shiite -- responsible for administering their own regions

2. Share Oil Revenues
Gain agreement for the federal solution from the Sunni Arabs by giving them 20 percent of all present and future oil revenues – an amount roughly proportional to their size – to make their region economically viable Empower the central government to set national oil policy and distribute the revenues, which would attract needed foreign investment and reinforce each community’s interest in keeping Iraq intact

3. Increase Reconstruction Assistance and Create a Jobs Program
Provide more reconstruction assistance, but clearly condition it on the protection of minority and women’s rights and the establishment of a jobs program to give Iraqi youth an alternative to the militia and criminal gangs. Insist that other countries make good on old commitments and provide new ones – especially the oil-rich Arab Gulf countries

4. Engage the Neighbors, Maintain Iraq’s Territorial Integrity
With the U.N., convene a regional security conference where Iraq’s neighbors, including Iran, pledge to respect Iraq’s borders and work cooperatively to implement this plan Engage Iraq’s neighbors directly to overcome their suspicions and focus their efforts on stabilizing Iraq, not undermining it Create a standing Contact Group, to include the major powers, that would engage Iraq’s neighbors and enforce their commitments

5. Drawdown US Troops
Direct U.S. military commanders to develop a plan to withdraw and re-deploy almost all U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of 2007. Maintain in or near Iraq a small residual force – perhaps 20,000 troops – to strike any concentration of terrorists, help keep Iraq’s neighbors honest and train its security forces