Biden: Petraeus is "Dead flat wrong"

Sen. Joe Biden, a democratic presidential contender and the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, has just returned home from a visit to Iraq and appeared on NBC's Meet the Press to give us his take on the situation:

"The reality is that although there's been some mild security progress, there is in fact no security in Baghdad or Anbar province where I was dealing with the most serious problem, sectarian violence...This president has no plan — how to win and how to leave...I will insist on a firm beginning to withdraw the troops and I will insist on a target date to get American combat forces out."

When asked about the upcoming questioning of Gen. David Petraeus, Biden stated:

"I really respect him, but I think he's dead flat wrong."

Biden stressed what I and many others have been saying, "there is no military solution." He said that while Petraeus is not going to directly lie in his report, he, as the President, will miss the point. Biden stressed that the only way to get a handle on the chaos in Iraq is to focus on a political solution by creating more local control.

Former presidential candidate and Massachusetts Senator, John Kerry, made an appearance on ABC's This Week and gave us his assessment of the Iraq War:

"The problem is, if you don't have a deadline and you don't require something of the Iraqis, they're simply going to use our presence as cover for their willingness to delay, which is what they have done month after month after month...I think the general will present the facts with respect to the statistics and the tactical successes or situations as he sees them, but none of us should be fooled — not the American people, not you in the media, not us in Congress — we should not be fooled into this tactical success debate."

I agree with what both men said, this war can not be won militarily. We've seen it for the past 5 years, the military secures an area by force, but 30 minutes after they move on to another area, that area is back to the way it was before the military intervened. We can't keep our troops there forever and its foolish to put our troops in harm's way just so a small section of Iraq can be safe for a half an hour. There must be a long term solution. There is a civil war in Iraq, between the Sunnis, the Shiites, and to some extent, the Kurds. Reconciliation between the three warring factions is the only answer to the situation. I hope Democrats in Congress are able to persuade enough Republicans to jump ship, so this war can be brought to a SAFE end. Cutting off the money for the troops is not the answer, as it would just cause more unnecessary deaths. Congress needs 67 votes, that is the only way to end this war until 2008, when hopefully, a Democrat will win the White House.