by Mark Silva
As U.S. military forces withdraw from the urban front lines of a six-year war in Iraq - and prepare to pull out of the country altogether by 2011 - Vice President Joe Biden said today in Baghdad that Americans "stand ready if asked and helpful'' to help with the political reconciliation that remains elusive there.
"There is a hard road ahead,'' and "it's not over yet,'' Biden, capping a two-day stop in Iraq, said in appearance with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Iraqi leader saluted "the common partnership and common efforts" between the U.S. and Iraq in defeating al Qaeda.
They stood in the same room where, not long ago, former President George W. Bush had to duck the two tossed shoes of an irate Iraqi as the American who authorized the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 made his final appearance there as president.
Sandstorms prevented the vice president from flying by helicopter into Baghdad. Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, made the call, and the vice president's 22-car motorcade made its way toward the Green Zone. The ride took well over an hour because an armored truck carrying reporters could not fit under one bridge so the caravan took a long route.
Biden met with the two vice presidents, al Hashemi and al Mahdi, and other Iraqi representatives in a sandstone building with stained glass windows called the Presidency Diwan. This is a ceremonial building, the place where Zal Khalilzad had president his credentials to President Jalal Talibani after the 2005 elections.
Beau Biden, an Army captain serving in Iraq, had breakfast with his father this morning in the private room where the vice president had spent the night.
The vice president was wearing tan suede urban combat boots, of the sort ordinarily worn by special response teams and EMTs. Said to be as light as tennis shoes, they were laced up and, the pool reports, "quite a close match for his khaki suit.'' After taking a brief walk outside with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos to shoot some footage, Biden walked in this morning wearing a camouflage ball cap.
Biden, who rode into Iraq for his first visit as vice president in the same sort of Airstream executive trailer-styled home rolled into the belly of a military transport that former Vice President Dick Cheney had used during his inspection of war zones.
"The reason I came is the president wants focus within the White House on the implementation of our administrations plan to both draw down troops in Iiraq,'' Biden told reporters last night, "and also to promote a political settlement on unresolved issues from boundary disputes to the oil law. ''
He wasnted to "reestablish contact with each of the leaders among the Kurds and and the Sunnis and the Shia and talk through them what they think has to be accommodated with regard to the boundary disputes of the north, the oil law...
"But I don't expect to accomplish in this one trip anything other than surveying the terrain,'' he acknowledged. "There's a lot left on the agenda and I think all Iraqis acknowledge that.''
Asked if the U.S. has less leverage now, Biden said, "No, I don't think so. I think the real influence is the Iraqi people have decided, it appears to me, and the Iraqi leaders that they want a unified country. That's the real leverage. ...I think the real leverage is the pressure they have on themselves to reach a political accommodation and obviously we're very deeply involved in Iraq...
"We're going to be involved,'' Biden said. " view our pulling out of the cities as demonstration that the Iraqi people that we meant what we said, we plan on keeping the letter of this sofa this agreement we reached.''
Comments
Bad Idea. Give it a rest Biden-- we are not diving the country into tree. We don't need to be that involved. As a matter of fact, being that involved is what got you the VP next to the VIP spot, and what fermented anti- US sentiment in Iraq hurting our soldiers. We can only provide security. We are there to keep tabs on Al-Qaeda. We can't afford getting politically immersed in their political quagmire. Not, unless this little war, authorized by Republicans while Democrats looked the other way, was really about oil.......
Posted by: meowmix | July 3, 2009 7:36 PM
Why not offer the services of only the military officers and the lawmakers who have said, "the surge is working"? The surge was to give Iraq the time necessary for them to make the required political reconciliations. They did not respond with urgency. Obama and Biden continue to enable. Iraq will continue to have Americans do the heavy lifting while continuing to spend American tax dollars. Get out of Iraq now--for good--and bring our shanghaied troops home for good.
Posted by: Vivian | July 3, 2009 7:50 PM
I don't believe that Americans "stand ready if asked and helpful'' to help with the political reconciliation that remains elusive therein Baghdad.now let we know that what is the reason behind it.
Posted by: Avenir labs | July 4, 2009 2:36 AM