When Joe Does Iraq
As Vice President, Joe Biden’s performance in Iraq was worthy of his administration’s junior varsity mentality.
by Anthony E. Deane
September 2, 2020, 12:06 AM
Fourteen years ago today marks the low point of the Iraq War. Mounting U.S. casualties and raging sectarian violence in an undeclared civil war was the order of the day. That changed late in the afternoon when Sheik Sattar Bezia abu Risha handed me a hand written three page document that would become the charter of the Anbar Awakening. The very thought of Iraqi tribal leaders siding with American forces, especially in Ramadi — the most dangerous city in the world, and the site of the first al Qaeda Caliphate — was unprecedented alliance. Anbar Was Lost was both the front page headline and the consensus intelligence assessment, and any mention of progress was deemed unbelievable. We had found an ally that was willing to fight the terrorist of Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) with us. Sadly, most of those freedom fighters are dead today because of the poor policy decisions and neglect of the Obama-Biden White House.
Our newfound Awakening allies began achieving results immediately, bringing in thousands of police recruits and giving Iraqis an alternative to AQI. Within months, President George W. Bush’s “Surge†under General David Petraeus command began charting a new path for Iraq building on the success we achieved in Ramadi. In September 2007, the city government of Ramadi was holding 5K races along streets we feared sending tanks months prior. President Bush flew to Iraq to meet with Sattar and thank him for his efforts. While far from peace, the tide was turning.
By mid-month, General Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker were appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chaired by then-Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.). Despite voting for “regime change†in 1998, invading Iraq in 2003, and even offering his own plan to divide the country Iraq into three ethnic enclaves in his widely rejected Unity Through Autonomy in Iraq Op-ed in 2006, 2007 Biden was firmly against the war — for now. Petraeus and Crocker delivered a somber but cautiously optimistic assessment in a carnival-like atmosphere, against a shameful “General Betray-Us†backdrop. A chorus of presidential hopefuls including Barack Obama, John McCain, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and Biden himself attempted to score political points, all while being interrupted by shrieking Code Pink “activists.†Days later, Sheik Sattar was murdered by an AQI terrorist. Sattar’s brother, Sheik Ahmed Bezia abu Risha, was elected to lead the Awakening Council and bravely announced “Although they killed Sattar, there are a million Sattars in Anbar.â€
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https://spectator.org/when-joe-does-iraq/
