Joe Biden

==== Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq ====
{{Main|War on terror}}
[[File:Joe Biden addresses the press after having a brief meeting with Iraq's interim Prime Minister lyad Allawi.jpg|thumb|Biden addresses the press after meeting with Prime Minister [[Ayad Allawi]] in [[Baghdad]] in 2004.|alt=refer to caption]]Biden was a strong supporter of the [[War in Afghanistan (2001–present)|War in Afghanistan]], saying, "Whatever it takes, we should do it."<ref name="TNR.hawk">{{cite magazine|last1=Crowley|first1=Michael|title=Hawk Down|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/politics/hawk-down|magazine=[[The New Republic]]|quote=Even before Obama announced his run for president, Biden was warning that Afghanistan, not Iraq, was the 'central front' in the war against Al Qaeda, requiring a major U.S. commitment. 'Whatever it takes, we should do it,' Biden said in February 2002.|date=September 24, 2009|access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-date=October 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016194518/http://www.newrepublic.com/article/politics/hawk-down|url-status=live}}</ref> As head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he said in 2002 that Iraqi president [[Saddam Hussein]] was a threat to national security and there was no other option than to "eliminate" that threat.<ref name="MTP04292007">{{cite news |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/18381961 |work=[[Meet the Press]] |title=MTP Transcript for April 29, 2007 |first=Tim |last=Russert |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=April 29, 2007 |page=2 |author-link=Tim Russert |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-date=December 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208191954/https://www.nbcnews.com/id/18381961 |url-status=live }}</ref> In October 2002, he voted in favor of the [[Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq]], approving the [[U.S. Invasion of Iraq]].<ref name="lat-foreign" /> As chair of the committee, he assembled a series of witnesses to testify in favor of the authorization. They gave testimony grossly misrepresenting the intent, history, and status of Saddam and his secular government, which was an avowed enemy of [[al-Qaeda]], and touted Iraq's fictional possession of [[Weapons of Mass Destruction]].<ref>{{#invoke:cite news||first=Mark|last=Weisbrot|author-link=Mark Weisbrot|date=February 18, 2020|access-date=August 28, 2021|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/17/joe-biden-role-iraq-war |title=Joe Biden championed the Iraq war. Will that come back to haunt him now?|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109174540/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/17/joe-biden-role-iraq-war|archive-date=January 9, 2021|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> Biden eventually became a critic of the war and called his vote and role a "mistake" but did not push for withdrawal.<ref name="lat-foreign" /><ref name="wapo-bosnia" /> He supported the appropriations for the occupation, but argued that the war should be internationalized, that more soldiers were needed, and that the Bush administration should "level with the American people" about its cost and length.<ref name="aap08-365">''Almanac of American Politics'' 2008, p. 365.</ref><ref name="wsj082508" />

By late 2006, Biden's stance had shifted considerably. He opposed the [[Iraq War troop surge of 2007|troop surge of 2007]],<ref name="lat-foreign" /><ref name="wapo-bosnia" /> saying General [[David Petraeus]] was "dead, flat wrong" in believing the surge could work.<ref name="nytm-traub">{{#invoke:cite news||last=Traub|first=James|author-link=James Traub|date=November 24, 2009|title=After Cheney |page=MM34 |magazine=[[The New York Times Magazine]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/magazine/29Biden-t.html|url-status=live|access-date=January 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103084703/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/magazine/29Biden-t.html|archive-date=January 3, 2021}}</ref> Biden instead advocated dividing Iraq into a loose [[federalism|federation]] of three [[ethnic group|ethnic]] states.<ref name="Divided">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/weekinreview/19shanker.html |title=Divided They Stand, but on Graves |first=Thom |last=Shanker |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=August 19, 2007 |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-date=January 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103081421/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/weekinreview/19shanker.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Rather than continue the existing approach or withdrawing, the plan called for "a third way": federalizing Iraq and giving [[Kurd]]s, [[Shiite]]s, and [[Sunni Islam|Sunnis]] "breathing room" in their own regions.{{sfn|Witcover|2010|pp=572–573}} In September 2007, a non-binding resolution endorsing the plan passed the Senate,<ref name="LAT20071001">{{cite news |last1=Parker |first1=Ned |last2=Salman |first2=Raheem |date=October 1, 2007 |title=U.S. vote unites Iraqis in anger |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-01-fg-iraq1-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=January 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103081500/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-01-fg-iraq1-story.html |archive-date=January 3, 2021}}</ref> but the idea failed to gain traction.<ref name="nytm-traub" />