Senate Endorses Plan to Divide Iraq

September 26, 2007
Senate Endorses Plan to Divide Iraq

WASHINGTON -- Implicitly criticizing the Bush administration's reliance on the Iraqi central government to unify the country, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly endorsed the decentralization of Iraq into semi-autonomous regions.

The nonbinding measure sponsored by Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Del.) -- which supports a "federal system" that would divide Iraq into sectarian-dominated regions -- won unusually broad bipartisan support, passing 75 to 23.

It attracted 26 Republicans, 47 Democrats and both independents.