Nevada Appeal: Biden Denounces War During Visit to Capitol

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Nevada Appeal: Biden Denounces War During Visit to Capitol

Geoff dornan

Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., told a crowd of 150 people jammed into Comma Coffee on Tuesday that the American people are looking for someone who can repair the damage left by the Bush administration.

"They are looking for the man or woman who can restore our place in the world and restore the middle class because the middle class is under siege," he said.

Biden said his credentials - 34 years in the Senate with extensive experience in foreign affairs policy - will be vital to doing that job because, "The next president is going to be left by this president with no margin for error."

He said there isn't a single American who doesn't know that the nation must deal with the energy crisis and health care, "and there's not a single American who thinks it's going to be easy."

Biden, in town for today's Democratic presidential candidates' forum at the Carson City Community Center, said that everywhere he goes the top three concerns are "Iraq, Iraq, Iraq."

"We must end this war," he said, drawing applause from the standing-room-only crowd, which included many of the area's prominent Democrats but also a number of Republicans. Ending the war, Biden said, may require capping the number of troops or taking away the president's power to continue the war.

He said to get the U.S. out of Iraq, the nation must "promote a political solution because there is no military solution."

The options, he said, include being an occupying power for decades, which he rejected, and bringing back a new "strong man."

"Wouldn't that be a bitter irony?" he asked.

The better option, he said, is to "separate the parties - give them breathing room." He said the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds should be united "with a weak federal government and strong local authority." He said that could allow the U.S. to have its troops out of Iraq by 2008.

Biden said the U.S. must also "free us from the axis of oil," pushing for research on renewable and alternative energy sources that would also help control global warming.

Biden said keeping the nation's promises to its veterans would be his top priority as president.

"You might not like this, but the rest of America has virtually made no sacrifice," he said.

Biden also called for health insurance reform. He said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., had a good idea in insuring everyone under age 18. He said the nation must move toward universal health care. He said the cost would be covered by repealing the tax breaks the Bush administration and Republican Congress pushed through for the richest 1 percent in the nation.

On illegal aliens, Biden said, the answer must include fixing the Mexican economy so their citizens don't have to sneak into the U.S. to make a decent living.

"Unless Mexico starts to get its act together, we're going to face this problem eternally."

He added that the "unscrupulous employers" who bring in and hire illegals, "they should go to jail too."

And for the 11 million illegals already here, he said "there has to be earned access to citizenship."

Biden will join seven other Democratic presidential candidates at the Carson City Community Center today in a forum sponsored by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The only announced Democrat who won't be there is Illinois Sen. Barack Obama who had a scheduling conflict.

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