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Biden heads across the pond

Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor February 6, 2009 10:02 AM

Vice President Joe Biden departs today for his first major entrance on the world stage since taking office, the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy in Germany.

Accompanied by President Obama's national security adviser, General James L. Jones, Biden will represent the United States at the annual conclave of government officials, specialists, and journalists on trans-Atlantic issues.

Biden knows many of the players from his years as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, but his words and actions will be much more scrutinized this time.

His office says he will "discuss the need for strong partnerships to meet our common challenges" and "urge cooperation among our allies to confront the security and economic issues of a post-Cold War and post-9/11 world."

Besides his major speech, Biden plans to meet separately with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, French President Nicholas Sarkozy, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, NATO Secretary General Jakob Gijsbert de Hoop Scheffer, and German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

According to a press pool report, Biden told House Democrats at their annual retreat this morning that while the security situation in Iraq has improved, the US needed to get "much more aggressive" in resolving remaining political issues. But he said the US is on the 20-yard line and moving toward the goal line.

But in Afghanistan: "I think we're closer to being on our 20-yard line, with 80 yards to go…we got a long way to go there."

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