Biden, The Joint Chiefs of Gaffe, Speaks Out on Iran Before Obama
Biden, although a bit dimwitted and always good for a laugh, actually tends to tell the truth from time to time, which is not always a good thing.
I was taught that honesty is the best policy, and in most circumstances, that is the case. However, politics is an entirely different situation, especially when dealing with a foreign country. Politicians have to be more cognizant of not only what they say but when they say it.
So, although Biden was correct in his assessment of Iran’s election results, his candid statement today regarding the validity of the election was probably not the smartest thing to say. I’m sure Obama is not that happy about this:
Vice President Joe Biden, going further than any other high-ranking American official to date in questioning the validity of last Friday’s election, said Sunday that “there’s some real doubt” that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was legitimately re-elected as president of Iran.
It’s also interesting that on the same day as Biden’s statement, the European Union exclaims the following:
The Presidency of the Council of the EU closely followed the course of the Presidential elections held on 12 June 2009 and notices Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was re-elected for the second term as the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Presidency is concerned about alledged irregularities during the election process and post-electional violence that broke out immediately after the release of the official election results on 13 June 2009.
The Presidency hopes that outcome of the Presidential elections will bring the opportunity to resume the dialogue on nuclear issue and clear up Iranian position in this regard. The Presidency expects the new Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran will take its responsibility towards international community and respect its international obligations.
The EU, in essence, is recognizing the legitimacy of the Iranian elections and the new administration of Ahmadinejad. However, it calls the protests irregular, not Ahmadinejad’s win. This is one of the reasons I don’t ever want America compared to Europe – we are much better.
Biden may not have been politically correct and may have upset his boss, but I happen to personally agree with him on this one. This is technically a gaffe, because Obama has not come out in support of Biden’s statement or opinion on this issue. Obama, being the Commander in Chief is Joe Biden’s boss and should speak out on Iran’s election first. A politician has to always watch what he or she says… something that Biden has long forgotten how to do. If we find that yet again this administration contradicts itself by saying two different things, it certainly looks bad and shows a real lack of knowledge and/or leadership on how to manage a country.
The individual that we should be most concerned about is Obama – when will he say anything definitive about Iran?
