Iraq war hearings start tomorrow

Bob Geiger has a nice piece up on his site about the Iraq war hearings which begin tomorrow.  I thought it was worth sharing here too.

Senator Joe Biden (D-DE), the new Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has announced a tentative schedule for hearings to investigate the Bush administration's conduct of the Iraq war and to examine further options to free the United States from that quagmire.

"The purpose of these hearings will be to seek an answer to the question currently dominating the national debate: what options remain to secure America’s interests in Iraq? Where do we go from here?" said Biden.

I honestly haven't ever been a big fan of Biden, and based on the straw polls regularly conducted here on DailyKos, neither has anyone else when it comes to considering him as a presidential candidate.  However, this might get interesting.

In contrast, Biden has been clamoring for such hearings for a long time and insists that he will show the leadership that's been missing on the committee. He also believes oversight has become even more important now that the White House appears unwilling to admit what a mess Iraq has become and Bush gives clear signs that he is simply biding his time until he leaves in January of 2009.

"I have reached the tentative conclusion that a significant portion of this administration, maybe even including the vice president, believes Iraq is lost," Biden said last week. "They have no answer to deal with how badly they have screwed it up. I am not being facetious now. Therefore, the best thing to do is keep it from totally collapsing on your watch and hand it off to the next guy -- literally, not figuratively."

The Foreign Relations Committee has already begun assembling quite a roster of witnesses to join Rice, including former national security advisers and secretaries of state, Brent Scowcroft, Sandy Berger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright and George Shultz.

Now there's just one more thing to entice you to head to the microwave and pull out the popcorn - this committee is stacked with presidential hopefuls all opposed to escalation as Bob notes:

The first is the fact that the Foreign Relations Committee just happens to be stacked with people who may also be seeking the presidency in 2008. Also involved in these hearings with Biden will be John Kerry (D-MA), Barack Obama (D-IL), Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Chuck Hagel (R-NE). All of them -- in addition to Biden -- are against any escalation of U.S. involvement in Iraq and may also use the hearings as a high-profile springboard to their own presidential campaigns. Throw in freshman Senator (and highly-decorated Veteran) Jim Webb (D-VA) who has also been assigned to the committee, Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and there may be even more potential for some fiery rhetoric.

Head on over to Bob's site to read the rest of the article.  Oh and you should definitely follow his writings if you don't already, he's always got some great pieces online.

•  Are you ready to rumble?

  Tips appreciated, running low on mojo.

  Do check out Bob's site, it rocks!

  by terminal3 on Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 10:12:21 AM PDT

•  Yes! Yes! Yes!

  er, Yes!!!!

  by TheManWithNoPoint on Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 10:12:59 AM PDT

•  Not Sure About All Of You. . .

  But I have a hunch that Jim Webb is going to become our favorite Senator in a very, very short period of time.

  Just watch.

  by IndyScott on Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 10:16:48 AM PDT

•  I hope that these welcome hearings ...

  ...do more than deal with the "incompetence" theme. As we all know too well, Mister Bush and his mentors and minions have run the Iraq War incompetently. But it must not be forgotten how they got us into this war in the first place. The hearings should focus at least as much attention on that as the fact that, once in, they FUBARed everything that could possibly be FUBARed and then FUBARed the supposed fixes of the FUBARs.

  Focus on the lies, not just the foul-ups.

  by Meteor Blades on Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 10:24:03 AM PDT

  •  Brilliantly put.

    by horsewithnoname on Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 10:41:03 AM PDT

•  Who will be testifying on Tuesday, anyone hear?

  I like the timing of Condiliar Rice on Thursday, the day after
  Dumbya's speech. And how about Wednesdays invites?
    My television habits have changed so radically from
  my Doby Gillis, Leave It To Beaver, Gunsmoke days.
  Nowadays, a good C-Span Senate hearing is almost
  like heaven. Like any self respecting aging average Joe,
  I particate in these hearings by heckling from the kitchen
  table. Foreign relations committee hearings like this,
  (especially with Lugar unseated as the chair) are better
  than the World Series! (to me)

  by leo joad on Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 10:49:39 AM PDT

  •  I'll be relying on live threads....

    and subtly eating popcorn.

    by Five Thirty on Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 11:08:13 AM PDT

•  I'd feel better if Biden

  was doing this as the right thing to do in his Senatorial capacity rather than as a prez candidate to be.
  Whatever happened to statesmanship?

  by victor lazlo on Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 11:03:53 AM PDT

  •  Either way, I doubt that Sen. Biden

    will do justice to this opportunity.  He is a speechmaker and not an investigator.

    by Five Thirty on Mon Jan 08, 2007 at 11:24:23 AM PDT