Echoes of a Distant Battle: Joe Biden on The Second Gulf War

“It would be unrealistic, if not downright foolish, to believe we can claim victory in the war on terrorism if Saddam is still in power.”

“I don’t consider the war on Iraq the war on terror.”

“Diplomacy over avoiding war is dead. … I do not see any alternative. It is not as if we can back away now.”

“…if we wait for the danger from Saddam to become clear, it could be too late.”

“…the dumbest thing in the world.”

“As every hour goes by, I think the chance of war is increasing. I was hoping it wasn’t, hoping there was a shot at doing this peacefully, but that looks slimmer and slimmer.”

“I also said at the time, as far back as August, that I thought the administration was exaggerating the threat.”

“”If the covert action doesn’t work, we’d better be prepared to move forward with another action, an overt action…”

“And this will be the first time ever in the history of the United States of America that we have essentially invaded another country preemptively to take out a leadership, I think justifiably given the case being made.”

“…the Taliban per se is not our enemy.”

“This is the world’s fight…the worst option is going it alone, but it is an option.”

On debating the wisdom of the invasion: “We have one single focus. And that is, we’re about to send our women and men to war. The president is the commander in chief. We voted to give him the authority to wage that war. We should step back and be supportive.”

“…if we wait for the danger to become clear and present, it may be too late.”

“We have no choice but to eliminate the threat. This is a guy who’s an extreme danger to the world.”

“A lot of Americans, myself included, are really concerned about how we got to this stage and about all the lost opportunities for diplomacy. But we are where we are. … Let loose the dogs of war. I’m confident we will win.”

“I, for one, thought we should have gone in Iraq.”

“Oh, I do think it was a just war.”

“He was adamant that, however misguided the war, we owed it to our troops to support them.” Biden campaign response to Washington Post after Democrat debate in 2019

“I voted to go into Iraq, and I’d vote to do it again.”

“Immediately, the moment it started, I came out against the war at that moment.”

“It was a mistake to assume the president would use the authority we gave him properly. … We gave the president the authority to unite the world to isolate Saddam. And the fact of the matter is, we went too soon. We went without sufficient force. And we went without a plan.”

“…one thing is clear, these weapons must be dislodged from Saddam Hussein, or Saddam Hussein must be dislodged from power.”

“I never believed they had weapons of mass destruction.”

“(He)) apparently believes that he fulfills the constitutional function of advise and consent by merely being the cheerleader for the administration’s rising chorus demanding war with Iraq. When and how are the only questions in his repertoire.” Stanley Kutler, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.