Monitor Breakfast: Senator Joseph Biden

Joe Biden was first elected to the Senate in 1972 at the age of 29, the second youngest person ever elected to the body. The voters of Delaware have re-elected him 4 times, and he is running again this year.

From 1987 to 1995, Senator Biden chaired the Judiciary Committee. His last appearance at a Monitor Breakfast was while he was judiciary chairman.

He became ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee in 1997 and moved into the chairman's chair last year.

"I think the war is going relatively well. I think the failure to capture bin Laden or most of his primary operatives is a problem. But there is no reason to conclude that because it hasn't been done yet that it won't be done...

I think the president is in the process of having to refine and coordinate what still seems to be some differences of opinion within the administration about how to proceed on the war on terror. At this very moment I suspect, although I am not sure, [a] meeting is still going on trying to determine what next to do on the unwelcome war they didn't want to be any part of that is going on between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

...There is a bit of a disconnect now on Afghanistan in particular. There seems to be understandably some discussion going on as to what to do next in terms of both specific proposals and degree of engagement in Israel now. And you still continue to have the talks about and discussions and utterances out of the administration about Iraq which occasionally confuse me – not the intention, but in terms of timing.

It is premature to say the war on terror has succeeded or not succeeded. It is a work in progress. The work is getting a little more difficult to be able to divine exactly what the contours of the effort are – where we are engaged, where there is specific troop commitment.

Where we have been clear, I think things are going very well. The hard part now comes. We are now into the difficult part. And I don't get yet a clear message from the administration ... a lot is in play now in the administration in terms of what they do next in a whole range of areas."

"The last time I met in person with Condoleezza Rice, which is three weeks now, she implored me to continue my effort to try to bring about some opening of dialog with Iran. I had made a speech on Iran three weeks ago that created a great deal of interest within Iran...the reason it kind of surprises me [reusing the 'axis of evil' phrase] is [that] she was very explicit that she and the president and the administration thought that was a very good idea to try to open a dialog with the Iranians – any even quasi-democratic forces within the Iranian government."

"I think it would be premature and I think it would be wrong to conclude Powell's trip was a failure. I think it would be a mistake to suggest they have no idea what they are doing with regard to Iraq right now. A lot of this is a work in progress."

"I have no evidence that the administration was proactive in or complicit in what amounted to a coup. It is pretty obvious the administration ... acted somewhat prematurely and I suspect if they had time to reflect on it, might very well have not reacted the same way....

We find ourselves in the embarrassing position of having looked like at least we were saying, "OK boys, let's get the job done now. Let's hope the new government is going to act responsibly." That is the impression.

We asked in the Foreign Relations Committee whether or not we had damaged ourselves in the region and the answer was yes, we had. I think that is repairable, I don't think it is any gigantic breach for us, but I think it was at the best, ill timed."

"....I have been suggesting that we should move from the tactical approach to the situation in the Middle East which no longer has any relevance.....I think there has to be a political horizon here that simultaneously is laid out with the tactical and practical initiatives to get people off the firing line.

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