Former Vice President Joe Biden received new scrutiny at Friday night’s Democratic primary debate over his vote in favor of the Iraq War in 2002.
“I made a mistake. I trusted George W. Bush,” Biden said after being asked by the moderator over his record on the issue. Biden also claimed that he immediately began opposing the war after it began and said he believed he only voted in favor of a resolution that would have allowed United Nations inspectors into Iraq.
A long review of Biden’s record by the Washington Examiner has shown that not to be the case.
Biden was one of the 77 senators, which included 29 Democrats, who voted in favor of the war. Although Biden has said numerous times in the 2020 race that he just supported the presence of U.N. inspectors in the country, his enthusiastic support for military force to remove Saddam Hussein is well documented.
Right before the war’s start, Biden called for the United States to “let loose the dogs of war” in March 2003. In a speech, he said, “I support the president. Diplomacy over avoiding war is dead. I do not see any alternative. It is not as if we can back away, now.”
On the day of the Iraq invasion, Biden said on CNN, “We voted to give [Bush] the authority to wage that war.” He added, “Now, we should step back and support him.”
In the months following the invasion, Biden remained committed to the war. Six months after the the war’s start, Biden told CNN that he had no regrets over his decision. Instead, Biden argued that the military’s tactics following Hussein’s fall was where he disagreed with the Bush administration.
“I’m having second thoughts only about the degree of confidence I placed in the administration to know what to do after Saddam was taken down,” he said, before adding that he had “no doubt” if Hussein remained in power, he “would gain access to a tactical nuclear weapon.”
The following year, Biden pushed for an increase of troops to the country to “get things under control.”
“I think, yes, we need more troops now to get things under control so [that] we will have less of a requirement for troops later,” Biden told PBS host Charlie Rose.
Biden defended his position until November 2005, when, in a Meet the Press appearance, he admitted that the war was a “mistake” and said he regretted his vote three years earlier.
