Biden sends son, Delaware troops off for Iraq

Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden told his son and other Delaware National Guard troops on Friday that his heart was "full of love and pride" as they prepared to leave for Iraq. "We take comfort in the knowledge that you are the best-trained, best-prepared group of citizen soldiers that our country to this day has ever sent into harm's way," Biden told members of the 261st Signal Brigade at a ceremony outside the state Capitol. Biden's son Beau, Delaware's attorney general, serves as a captain and a lawyer in the 261st. The unit leaves Sunday for Fort Bliss, Texas, where it will train for about six weeks before heading to Iraq. The normally loquacious senator spoke only briefly, telling his audience at the outset that his son had advised him: "Dad, keep it short. We're in formation."