More headlines: Joe Biden on Foreign Policy
(Following are older quotations. Click here for main quotations.)
OpEd: called Cheney "dangerous" but Biden followed his model
Biden played an activist role on foreign affairs, taking on the Iraq portfolio and waging a series of pitched--though ultimately losing--battles with Clinton and Gates, Obama's Republican holdover defense secretary, over the war in Afghanistan and other
uses of force. Biden had publicly described Cheney's strong hand in national security decisions as "dangerous," but he embraced his predecessor's activist role by insisting on attending most top-level war planning meetings. In his Biden-flaying memoir,
"Duty," Gates advised Biden to follow the example of George H.W. Bush, who as Reagan's V.P. had shared his opinions mostly in private with his boss. That approach "more befitted the dignity of the office," Gates writes, but Biden "listened closely,
thanked me, then did the opposite of what I recommended, following the Cheney model to a T."Biden says, "the president encouraged me to challenge assumptions. I have as much experience as Gates, and that's one reason [Obama] asked me to do this job."
Source: Politico Mag profile, "Joe Biden in Winter"
Mar 1, 2014
GOP too tough but not smart; Dems not tough enough
Joe Biden, who was then lining up to run for the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination, aptly summarized the obstacles the party faced. Biden argued that the Democrats needed to shake off a sense of drift and paralysis in foreign policy caused by its
reaction to Vietnam. "The American people have grave doubts about the Democrats' willingness to back diplomacy with power," Biden said in 1986. "People think the Republicans are too tough but not very smart, and the Democrats are not tough enough."
Source: The Obamians, by James Mann, p. 26
Jun 14, 2012
VP role: bring experience, but not deciding voice
In her early days as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton seemed uncertain of her role within the administration and eager to show she was no wild-eyed idealist (as Republicans liked to portray her).
Vice President Joe Biden seemed to sympathize with those who favored an emphasis on democracy and human rights, but
Biden was not the deciding voice in the administration; he'd been put on the ticket not to make foreign policy, but to demonstrate to voters that the Obama administration would have foreign policy experience.
No one expected Secretary of Defense Gates to be anything other than a realist; the Pentagon is not typically the place from which to lead a campaign to spread democracy.
Source: The Obamians, by James Mann, p.169
Jun 14, 2012
1986: Strict sanctions against South African apartheid
On the Foreign Relations Committee, Biden unleashed an uncommonly sharp tongue in July 1986, accusing mild-mannered Secretary of State George Shulz of softening economic sanctions against South Africa for its policy of apartheid. "We ask them to put up
a timetable [for remedial action]," he thundered, waiving a fist. "What is our timetable? Where do we stand morally? I hate to hear an administration and a secretary of state refusing to act on a morally abhorrent point.
I'm ashamed of this country that puts out a policy like this that says nothing, nothing. I'm ashamed of the lack of moral backbone to this policy." The diplomatic Shulz countered "What we want is a society that they all can live in together. So I don't
turn my back on the whites and I would hope that you wouldn't." Biden countered grandly: "I speak for the oppressed, whatever they may be." To many, Biden was discourteously browbeating the secretary of state and tooting his own horn in the process.
Source: A Life of Trial & Redemption, by Jules Witcover, p.164
Oct 5, 2010
1990: Predicted that Soviet Union would cease to exist
Appropriately, he spoke in his declaration of candidacy of his worldview, predicting that "long before the Senate term I seek now is over, the Soviet Union as the world has known it for seventy years will cease to exist."
In the 1990 Senate race, Biden was no longer the unpolished kid candidate taking on the giant incumbent as in 1972, but now the familiar, seasoned and worldly Senate man and national figure.
Biden's vision, his confident presence was more than enough to draw a telling difference between himself and his opponent.
He prophesized that it would dissolve into separate and independent nations, possibly in a loose confederation. Whether or not listeners believed
Source: A Life of Trial & Redemption, by Jules Witcover, p.245
Oct 5, 2010
FactCheck: McCain did not refuse to sit down with Spain
Biden said that McCain had refused to meet with the government of Spain, but McCain made no such definite statement. Biden said, “John McCain... wouldn’t even sit down with the government of Spain, a NATO ally. I find that incredible.”In a Sept. 17
interview, McCain appeared confused when asked whether he would meet with Pres. Zapatero of Spain. He responded that “I would be willing to meet with those leaders who are our friends and want to work with us in a cooperative fashion,” but then started
talking about leaders in Latin America. He did not commit to meeting with Zapatero, but it wasn’t clear he’d understood the question.
But the McCain campaign denied that their candidate was confused, responding by email, “Senator McCain knew exactly to
whom the question referred. Senator McCain refused to commit to a White House meeting with Pres. Zapatero in this interview.” That’s not a refusal to meet with Zapatero, as Biden said. It’s simply a refusal to commit himself one way or the other.
Source: FactCheck.org on 2008 Vice Presidential debate
Oct 2, 2008
Nation-building is key to winning over rural Afghanis
Roads bind people together. They allow farmers to get production to the market. They bring prices down and access to goods and service is up, and they connect people to their government, which is something we heard everywhere we went in rural
Afghanistan -- the need to give some reason as to why it would be beneficial to "connect," quote, to their government. How do you spell "hope" in Dhari or in Pashtu? A-s-p-h-a-l-t. Asphalt. That's how you spell hope, in my humble opinion.
Source: Council on Foreign Relations on 2020 candidates
Feb 25, 2008
American troops on the ground in Darfur now
Q: In the past, you’ve talked about NATO troops in Darfur. What about American troops?A: Absolutely, positively. Look, I’m so tired of this. I heard the same arguments after I came back from meeting with Milosevic: We can’t act; we can’t send troops
there. Where we can, America must. Why Darfur? Because we can. We should now. Those kids will be dead by the time the diplomacy is over. 2500 American troops can stop the genocide now. I have called for a no-fly zone, but you need troops on the ground.
Source: 2007 YouTube Democratic Primary debate, Charleston SC
Jul 23, 2007
US troops on ground in Sudan to end Darfur carnage
Q [to Sen. Dodd]: Darfur is the second time that our nation has had a chance to do something about genocide in Africa. The first came in Rwanda in 1994, when we did nothing.DODD: We’ve unfortunately, as a result of our conflict in
Iraq, have lost our moral authority. And as a result of that, our ability to mobilize the world on issues like Darfur has been severely damaged. But the United States should be able to take some unilateral action here
BIDEN:
I have been calling for three years to stop talking and start acting. We don’t have to wait to get out of Iraq to regain our moral authority. We’ve lost part of our moral authority because we stood by and watched this carnage. And if need be, if the rest
of the world will not act, we should, and should have already--two years ago--imposed a no-fly zone, and we should have--two years ago, absent the willingness of the rest of the world to act--put American troops on the ground to stop the carnage.
Source: 2007 Democratic Primary Debate at Howard University
Jun 28, 2007
Pakistani elections will be a sham if emergency not lifted
Q: General Musharraf, the president of Pakistan, says the elections are going to take place before the 9th of January. But there is no word when the state of national emergency is going to be lifted. And a lot of critics are already saying how can you go
ahead and campaign, how can you have elections, how can the opposition operate if this state of emergency continuesA: Well, it can’t. Musharraf called me about six days ago. I had a long conversation with him.
And he indicated to me that the elections would go off within this 60-day timeframe, that he would take off his uniform, and that as soon as possible before--BEFORE--the election date, the state of emergency would be lifted.
Absent him lifting the state of emergency, this will be a sham. And if he does not do that, then I think there is not much hope for there to be the kind of accommodation and power sharing that everybody hopes will occur as a consequence of this election.
Source: CNN Late Edition: 2007 presidential series with Wolf Blitzer
Nov 11, 2007
Pakistan is potentially most dangerous country in the world
Q: [to Biden]: Why isn’t Senator Obama ready?BIDEN: Look, I think he’s a wonderful guy. It was about Pakistan we were talking about. The fact of the matter is, Pakistan is potentially the most dangerous country in the world. A significant minority of
jihadists with nuclear weapons. We have no Pakistan policy; we have a Musharraf policy. That’s a bad policy. The policy should be based upon a long-term relationship with Pakistan and stability. We should be encouraging free elections. There is an
overwhelming majority of moderates in that country. They should have their day.
Q: But when you were asked, “Is he ready?” you said, “I think he can be ready, but right now I don’t believe he is. The presidency is not something that lends itself to
on-the-job training.”
BIDEN: I think I stand by the statement.
OBAMA: If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and we’ve exhausted all other options, we should take him out before he plans to kill another 3,000 Americans. I think that’s common sense
Source: 2007 Democratic primary debate on “This Week”
Aug 19, 2007
First VP speech: Refute Bush's unilateralist foreign policy
Biden's new role as a major administration spokesman on both domestic and foreign policy began. Barely two weeks in office, Obama sent him to Munich to make the administration's first prominent speech on foreign affairs, at an annual
European security conference. In a direct refutation of the Bush unilateralist foreign policy, Biden said, "I come to Europe on behalf of a new administration determined to set a new tone not only in Washington but in
America's relations around the world" that would "work in a partnership whenever we can, and alone only when we must." He said his country henceforth would "strive to act preventatively, nor preemptively" to avoid use of force "to stop crises
from occurring before they are in front of us, starting with diplomacy. And he reached out to the NATO partners and Russia to give more to the effort to defeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda."
Source: A Life of Trial & Redemption, by Jules Witcover, p.446-447
Oct 5, 2010
Iraq's lesson: Be cautious on declaring Syrian WMDs
Q: Sen. John McCain has criticized the administration's foreign policy for not being tough enough, for issuing veiled threats, at best, and being overly cautious. Now that we know Syria is using chemical weapons on its own people, how does that change
the administration's approach?A: I disagree with the basic premise. When we came into office, there were two wars raging: one without any sense of how to end it and the other without any sense of how to manage it; Al Qaeda was on the ascendancy; all
of that has changed. But with regard to Syria: we don't want to blow it like the last administration did in Iraq, saying "weapons of mass destruction." We know that there have been traces found of what are probably chemical weapons. The president is
likely to use a proportional response in terms of meaningful action [inclusive internationally and within Syria]. The one lesson we learned from Iraq and the last administration is, in managing the affairs in Iraq, they destroyed every institution.
Source: Douglas Brinkley in Rolling Stone Magazine
May 9, 2013
Arab Spring changed Mideast; commitment to Israel unchanged
The Arab Spring, at once full of both hope and uncertainty, has required Israel--and the United States--to reassess old and settled relationships. Iran's dangerous nuclear weapons program, and its continued support of terrorist organizations, like
Hezbollah and Hamas, not only endanger Israel, but endanger the world.All these pressures put enormous pressure on the State of Israel. We understand that. And we especially understand that if we make a mistake, it's not a threat to our existence.
But if Israel makes a mistake, it could be a threat to its very existence. And that's why, from the moment the President took office, he has acted swiftly and decisively to make clear to the whole world and to Israel that even as circumstances have
changed, one thing has not: our deep commitment to the security of the state of Israel. That has not changed. That will not change as long as I and he are President and Vice President. It's in our naked self-interest, beyond the moral imperative.
Source: Speech at the AIPAC Policy Conference
Mar 4, 2013
Bush’s approach to Middle East has been disastrous
Q: How would you solve Israel/Palestinian conflict?BIDEN: No one in the Senate has been a better friend to Israel than Joe Biden. I would have never joined this ticket were I not absolutely sure Barack Obama shared my passion. But you asked whether
this administration’s policy had made sense. It has been a failure. Bush insisted on elections on the West Bank, when I said, “Big mistake. Hamas will win.” What happened? Hamas won. We kicked Hezbollah out of Lebanon, I said, “Move NATO forces in there.
Fill the vacuum, because if you don’t, Hezbollah will control it.“ Now what happened? Hezbollah is a legitimate part of the government. We will change this policy with diplomacy that understands that you must let Israel negotiate and stand with them, not
insist on policies like this administration has.
PALIN: A two-state solution is the solution. That needs to be done, and that will be a top agenda item under a McCain-Palin administration. Israel is our strongest and best ally in the Middle East.
Source: 2008 Vice Presidential debate against Sarah Palin
Oct 2, 2008
Even Bush recognizes we should talk to Iran
After 7 years of denial, even the Bush Administration recognizes we should talk to Iran because that the best way to ensure our security. Should we trust John McCain’s judgment when he says that we can’t have no timelines to withdraw our troops from Iraq
or should we listen to Obama who says shift the responsibility to the Iraqis and set a time to bring our combat troops home. Now, after 6 long years, the administration and the Iraqi government are on the verge of setting a date to bring our troops home.
Source: Speech at 2008 Democratic National Convention
Aug 27, 2008
Move from a Musharraf policy to a Pakistan policy
I do not think we should maintain the same aid we’re giving. I have made it clear to Musharraf. If he did not take off his uniform, if he did not hold fair and free elections by the middle of January, I would on the floor of the Senate move to take away
the aid we’re giving with regard to F-16s and P-3s, because that’s the biggest leverage you have on him within his military. He is not a sole player. He has to keep his military happy as well. I would use that leverage. We should move from a Musharraf
policy to a Pakistan policy. Unlike anyone else, within 5 days of this happening, I laid out a detailed plan. You have to move from military aid to giving to the middle class there. The middle class is overwhelmingly the majority. They get no connection
with the US. We have to significantly increase our economic aid relative to education, relative to NGOs, relative to all those things that make a difference in the lives of ordinary people over there, and not be doing it through the military side.
Source: 2007 Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Nevada
Nov 15, 2007
Page last updated: Mar 05, 2022