Biden Plan for Iraq Gains Strength in Senate

Statement

State Representative and Congressional candidate Barry Finegold released the following statement today regarding Iraq, as the three-state plan put forth by Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. and Les Gelb has gained increasingly broad support in Washington and continues to emerge as the best avenue towards an eventual peace in the war-ravaged country.

"I am very pleased to see that both Democratic and Republican Senators have become co-sponsors of a resolution designed to push for a three-state solution for Iraq," said Finegold. "This is a cause I look forward to fighting for in the House of Representatives. This administration's recent surge strategy is not working and we need a change."

Senator Barbara Boxer, one of the strongest proponents for a withdrawal deadline, recently signed on as a co-sponsor of Biden's resolution, along with Senators Brownback and Hutchinson. The resolution urges decentralization of the Iraqi government and creation of the semi-autonomous regions for Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds.

"Division has been successful in the past in regions where a strong dictator was removed and where ethnic factions had to find a way to live in peace," says Barry. "It can work here too. Any legislation that puts Senator Brownback and Senator Boxer on the same side of a debate is an innovative, truly non-partisan strategy for tackling our nation's most crippling crisis. With the administration starting to consider this plan too, it seems that some folks in Washington are finally starting to wake up to the realities we face and the potential of this diplomatic solution."

Recently Bush administration officials have shown a greater willingness to consider the strategy that would send power back to the different tribes and regions in Iraq. In essence, the plan would divide Iraq into three states governed loosely by a central government. The plan also calls for the regions to share oil resources, for an overarching diplomatic strategy with regional partners, and a drawdown of U.S. forces in the region.

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