The Biden Plan

The number one question to any of the presdential nominees of either party should be this: "Knowing that things could very well be different in Iraq by January of 2009, in order to give us an idea of how you would pick up the pieces over there, tell us how you would handle Iraq today if you were president?"

Right now, the only candidate who would have a solid, grown-up answer with any chance of working is Sen. Joe Biden (Democrat-DE):

Nine months ago, Leslie Gelb of the Council on Foreign Relations and I proposed a plan, which offers a roadmap to a political settlement in Iraq that gives its warring factions a way to share power peacefully and us a chance to leave with our interests intact.

The plan would decentralize Iraq and give Kurds, Shi'ites, and Sunnis control over their daily lives; bring the Sunnis in by guaranteeing them a fair share of the oil; enlist the support of Iraq's neighbors and the world's major powers to promote the plan with the Iraqis; and withdraw US combat forces by 2008.

The Bush administration has bet everything on a future that will not happen...Our plan offers a way to make federalism work for all Iraqis. And it offers the possibility -- not the guarantee -- of producing a soft landing in Iraq. That would be the best possible outcome for Iraq and for America.

And so...Hillary, Barack, or John; or the other John, Mitt, or Rudy...what sort of plan would you put forth today - here and now - that would best clean up the mess George W. Bush has made in Iraq, with the least amount of casualties?

Anyone?