Biden Wants Rice To Explain Iraq Policy

December 26th, 2006

Washington, D.C. - Senator Joseph Biden said Tuesday he would summon Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to testify during three weeks of hearings in January about the Iraq war.

Senator Joseph Biden said Tuesday he would summon Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to testify during three weeks of hearings in January about the Iraq war.

The incoming Democratic chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, Biden, said he opposes the idea of increasing the level of U.S. troops in Iraq, saying the "troop surge" option will not work.

Boosting troop levels in Iraq by some 30,000 is one of the options being considered by President Bush.

Despite opposition from some senior military commanders, the option is being seriously considered, a U.S. Army general who commands troops in Baghdad told CNN last week.

Biden said Tuesday he strongly favors reducing the troop level, not increasing it.

"We should be drawing down troops gradually, forcing the Iraqis to meet their own needs to end this civil war by a political agreement," Biden said on CNN's "American Morning."