Former Vice President Dick Cheney sits in the hot seat with ABC’s Jonathan Karl. Besides anything that Cheney has said, it is obvious that Obama and Biden were against the war in both Iraq and Afghanistan, although they will never admit that publicly.

I still wonder after a year in office, what Joe Biden’s job description really is, despite technically being the Vice President of the United States. We know he’s the gaffe-master as he has this innate ability to put his foot in his mouth. Oh, and did you know he’s from not one, but two states? Yup, when he’s in Delaware, he’s from Delaware. The same can be said when he’s in Pennsylvania.

Apparently, Biden has taken up another hobby: stealing people’s credit. Biden was on the Larry King Show Wednesday night, touting all things Obama. Of course, the subject of the Iraq war came up.

Remember back in the day when then-Senator Biden in his campaign speeches had a plan to carve Iraq into three territories – basically giving in to the country’s fractious factions? Also, remember when then-Senator Obama had this plan to end the Iraq war years ago? As long as it was started without his permission.

Of course, there was Obama’s strenuous opposition to the 2007 American troop surge of – you guessed it – George W. Bush – that Obama just knew would worsen sectarian strife there.

As we already know, it didn’t happen that way, thanks in large part to the brave and selfless service of thousands of U.S. troops who served in Iraq and helped ensure that peace would prevail.

Now the dysfunctional duo – Obama and Biden – are now taking credit for the success of the Iraq war, despite their well-known opposition to the war, its tactics and the prediction of failure.

In other words, Biden is touting the Iraq conflict as one of Obama’s “greatest achievements.” According to Biden on his appearance on the Cryptkeeper King program:

I am very optimistic about — about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You’re going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You’re going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government. 

I spent — I’ve been there 17 times now. I go about every two months — three months. I know every one of the major players in all the segments of that society. It’s impressed me. I’ve been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences.

Not surprisingly, Biden didn’t go into any detail about any of the Obama administration’s “great achievements”. That would have made for a lot of dead-air time, had he tried to come up with anything.

Is it me, or is stealing other people’s thunder (i.e. lying, plagiarizing) a specialty of Biden’s?

Reports AFPS’ Jim Garamone, leaders need self-reflection and sober analysis in all situations, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during the National Prayer Breakfast here yesterday.

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and many other government leaders attended.

Mullen told a story from the Korean War that illustrated his point.

An Army platoon was under heavy attack, Mullen said. “They hunkered down in a small clearing, making the best of what little cover they could find, and tried desperately to hold on against what seemed to be terrible odds,” he said. “Every now and then, the platoon sergeant noticed that his young lieutenant would dash behind a big rock and sit for a minute or two and then dash back out and start issuing new commands – ‘Move here, move there, shift your fire high, shift it low.’”

After an hour or so of combat and suffering only a few casualties, the platoon chased off their attackers and began to safely make their way back to base, Mullen said. “On the walk back, the sergeant approached the lieutenant and asked him, ‘Exactly what were you doing behind that rock, sir?’”

The officer said he needed time to think, to adjust. “So I kept asking myself three questions: What am I doing, what am I not doing and how can I make up the difference?” Mullen said. “Now, I don’t know if that story is really true or not. I’m told it is. I really like it, because it illustrates perfectly the deepest challenge of leadership during difficult times: that of self-reflection and sober analysis.”

The chairman said that especially in the heat of battle, leaders must find the time to think, to adjust and to improve the situation.

“After more than four decades in uniform, in peace and in war, it’s been my experience that people are guided best not by their instincts, but by their reasoning; that rulers are most effective not when they rule passionately, but when they decide dispassionately,” he said.

“And so in these dangerous, difficult and immensely challenging times, when our young troops fight two wars overseas, while their loved ones back home fight to keep their families together, when everything from the economy to the environment instills fear and uncertainty, let us exercise our own free choice,” Mullen said. “Let us lead rationally and calmly. Let us take the time to ask ourselves, ‘What are we doing? What are we not doing? And how can we make up the difference?’

“We may not always like the answers,” the chairman said. “I know I seldom do. But we can always learn from having posed the questions.”

Mullen offered the following prayer:

“Father in heaven, we gather today to ask your blessing over the lives and decisions of those who lead us around the world.

“Theirs is a mighty task and a noble calling. For upon their shoulders rest the hopes and dreams of billions of people — not only of this generation, but of future generations who know us not. May you guide them in that pursuit, oh Lord.

“Give them the faith to seek your guidance, the wisdom to make the right decisions and the character to see those decisions through. Help them choose love over hate, courage over fear, principle over expediency. Let them always seek concord and peace, and to remember that the best leader is a good and humble servant.

“Encourage them, Father, to seek your counsel as Solomon himself did in 1 Kings, Chapter 3, saying to you, ‘But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties, so give me a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.’

“May you bless us all, Lord – your children – and give our leaders that same discerning heart. Help us always to distinguish between right and wrong and to serve others before ourselves. This we pray in thy name, Amen.”

Jim sent this in:

While visiting Iraqi political leaders, U.S. commanders and American troops in Iraq, the gaff-ridden Vice President Joe Biden promised that the Obama Justice Department will appeal a federal court ruling dismissing manslaughter charges against five Blackwater security personnel shootings case.

According to reports regarding the incident that occurred at the height of the bloody insurgency,
17 Iraqi civilians were killed in Nisoor Square, Baghdad when civilians were fired on by Blackwater security officers without provocation. Blackwater officials countered that the Iraqis killed in shoot-out were involved in an ambush of a Blackwater convoy.

The Iraqis claim the Blackwater guards fired on white sedan that failed to slow down and then fired into surrounding area as people tried to flee, with the New York Times quoting “anonymous” FBI agents saying that “at least 14 of the Iraqi killings were unjustified. (Recall that the New York Times also reported that we lost the war and that our military was broken, as well.)

During President George W. Bush’s final month in office, five Blackwater security guards — contracted to provide protection services — were charged with 14 counts of manslaughter

When a U.S. federal court judge threw out charges against five Blackwater security guards over the alleged killing, Iraqis became furious as did many U.S. politicians. Vice President Biden told the Iraqi news media that the dismissal of the Blackwater charges was “not an acquittal”.

Expressing “personal regret” over the killings, Biden said the U.S. Justice Department would file its appeal against the court’s decision next week.

“While we fully respect the independence and the integrity of the US judicial system, we were disappointed with the judge’s decision to dismiss the indictment, which was based on the way some evidence had been acquired,” he stated.

“The United States is determined to hold to account anyone who commits crimes against Iraqi people,” Mr. Biden added.

Not surprising is the fact that never did the VP use the words “alleged” or “accused” in his statements, words the Obama White House routinely used when talking about the “Underwear Bomber” or the Fort Hood shootings by an Islamic army major.

“We still don’t know what happened in that Blackwater incident. However, I imagine Biden and Obama do, since they seem to save their vitriol for U.S. citizens serving in Iraq,” said former New York City detective and military intelligence officer Sid Frances.

But political strategist Mike Baker put it more succinctly: “I wish this [Obama Administration] were as gung-ho about killing terrorists as they are with prosecuting Americans placed in the fog of war.”

“These progressives always praise the courts when they agree with the judges’ rulings, but if they don’t they denigrate the judicial decision or label the judges as right-wingers,” said Baker. “How about leaving the labels behind and reading the U.S. Constitution?”

The Iraq government maintains that the Blackwater guards fired without provocation, but Blackwater officials said the shooting by their employees occurred as a result of an ambush on its convoy and that while the guards are considered civilians, they followed the rules of engagement.

The Bush Administration gave the Iraqis a thumbs down on a trial of American citizens in Iraq, and charges in the U.S. were thrown out when the judge ruled in December that the guards’ constitutional rights had been violated and that the justice department had mishandled evidence.

The ruling provoked anger in Iraq and this month the Iraqi government began collecting signatures for a class action lawsuit on behalf of people killed or wounded in incidents involving Blackwater, according to the European press including the BBC.

This incident has had a significant impact on security companies operating in Iraq and their activities have been closely supervised if not entirely eliminated.

U.S. Marines and Afghan soldiers continue their push deeper into southern Afghanistan’s Helmand Province as part of Operation Khanjar.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen says the initial trends of stability in Iraq are positive since U.S. troops withdrew from the country’s major cities.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen says he’s comfortable with the current U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen says the U.S. and the international community continue to keep a close eye on the situation in North Korea.

Former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara died today at his Washington, DC, home at the age of 93.

President Barack Obama is in Moscow for a two-day summit which will include meetings about nuclear arsenal reductions.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq on Thursday to visit U.S. soldiers, just two days after all American combat troops withdrew from Baghdad and all of Iraq’s cities and towns.

During his visit, Biden will meet with Iraqi leaders, including President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

A White House statement said Biden will reiterate the U.S. commitment to carry out President Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw combat forces. He also will press Iraqi leaders to make more progress toward political reconciliation. It was his first trip to Iraq as vice president.

Al-Maliki named the day U.S. combat troops withdrew, June 30, as “National Sovereignty Day” and declared it a public holiday.

On that same day, the White House said that Biden will oversee the administration’s Iraq policy and work with its government to overcoming their political differences and achieve reconciliation.

In Washington, President Barack Obama said that he has always reserved the right to adjust the U.S. troop withdrawal timetable in Iraq based on changing circumstances. But he said he was confident the U.S. will be able to abide by agreements it made with Iraqis.

In a White House interview with The Associated Press, Obama also said he believes Iraqis do not want to return to spiraling violence of past years but added that he has not seen sufficient reconciliation among Iraq’s political factions.

He also praised U.S. commanders for handing over security to Iraqis in cities and urban areas this week.

Biden arrived as violence flared for another day in the Iraqi capital, with bombings killing at least three people in the Baghdad area in the first significant violence since Iraqi forces assumed responsibility for securing cities after the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from urban areas earlier this week.

One thing is for certain – you have better odds waiting for Vice President Joe Biden to create a gaffe than you have winning your state lottery. Biden did it again recently as during the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, D.C. which took place not long ago, Biden – who took the place of President Obama at the function – made the mistake of disclosing the existence and location of a secret bunker where the VP would remain under secret protection in dire emergencies.  Not surprisingly, this is where former VP Dick Cheney was holed up during the 9/11 crisis.

Specifically, Biden said that when Cheney was in lock down, this location is where his aides were stationed, an image that Biden conveyed in a way that suggested that we shouldn’t be surprised that the policies that emerged from the bunker were off the wall.

Folks, this is the same vice-president who has this propensity to, on a somewhat semi-regular basis, put his foot in his mouth.  Perhaps the only difference is that no vice president in the history of our nation has ever disclosed the location of their “secret bunker” – ever.  Biden’s gaffes are typically harmless, “doh” moments; but this time?  This is a major screwup.  And to think that Biden is a heartbeat from being the President – that in and of itself is a scary thought.

Speaking of which, enjoy – or cringe – the best (or worst) of Joe Biden.