WASHINGTON, July 19 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden said Iraq's inability to pass an oil law shows unity is impossible and called for a breakup of the country.
The Delaware Democrat and presidential hopeful said Thursday at a Senate hearing on Iraq the recent Bush report on Baghdad's ability to meet 18 benchmarks proves his point.
"The government made the least amount of progress, in my view, where it matters the most, on the key political benchmarks: Oil laws, provincial elections, constitutional revisions and de-Baathification," he said.
The secular Baath Party ruled Iraq under dictator Saddam Hussein.
Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, testifying via video conference, countered that the troop surge intended to turn the Iraq war around only "hit full stride" a month ago. He said overall violence is down though large attacks have increased.
"This is the context the Iraqi people and Iraqi government must deal with their future," he said, adding the benchmark process is about trust replacing the fear pervading everything from the countryside to neighborhoods and the federal government.
He noted, as positives, Iraq's "executive council" -- prime minister, president and two vice presidents -- are meeting every Sunday morning and Sunnis in the restive Anbar region are now rejecting insurgents there. He also called for a "more active role by the United Nations" in Iraq.
Biden countered by saying the policy of President Bush and Congress "is based on a fundamentally flawed premise:" a central government can function as "a unity government that can actually deliver security, services and an effective government."
Iraq's government is deadlocked over the oil law. The sticking points are regional/local versus central control over the oil fields and the extent foreign companies can enter the oil sector.
A separate law redistributing oil revenues has been generally agreed upon but is further from parliamentary approval than the oil law.
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Ben Lando, UPI Energy Correspondent
