Biden says U.S. commitment to Iraq contingent- paper
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http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=115587
Biden says U.S. commitment to Iraq contingent- paper
July 4, 2009 - 08:44:36
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden has warned Iraqi officials that his government’s commitment to Iraq could end if the country again slipped into ethnic and sectarian violence, The Washington Post said in a report.
“Biden delivered the warning during a three-day visit to Iraq that began Thursday, just a few days after the United States formally withdrew most combat troops from Iraqi cities under a security agreement reached last year. It was the vice president’s first visit since President Obama asked him to take the lead on Iraq policy,” the newspaper said.
“In meetings with senior Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Biden stressed that the United States would remain engaged in Iraq, even as its military role diminishes in a withdrawal that is expected to dramatically gather pace after parliamentary elections in January,” it noted.
“But a senior administration official briefing journalists said Biden made that support contingent on Iraqi progress in resolving long-standing conflicts, some that bedeviled Iraq even before the United States invaded in March 2003,” according to the report.
“If ‘Iraq were to revert to sectarian violence or engage in ethnic violence, then that’s not something that would make it likely that we would remain engaged because, one, the American people would have no interest in doing that, and, as he put it, neither would he nor the president,’ the official said.”
“He added that there ‘wasn’t any appetite to put Humpty Dumpty back together again if, by the action of people in Iraq, it fell apart’.”
“The warning was a dramatic indication of the changing U.S. posture in Iraq, the foremost foreign policy concern of the Bush administration. The statements suggested that the Obama administration would absolve itself of responsibility if Iraq again descended into chaos, dragged down by still-unresolved crises. They include border disputes between Kurds and Arabs and also legislation for Iraq’s oil resources.”
“Across Iraq, signs are rife of a diminishing U.S. role. Simply by virtue of the presence of 130,000 U.S. troops, the United States is sure to exercise decisive influence. But the power it once wielded inside Baghdad has passed. Along with last month’s pullout — and a far larger one due to end by August 2010 — staffing at the U.S. Embassy will be reduced over the year as well,” according to the newspaper.
“Even the interaction of officials seems to have changed. Early Friday, Biden’s aides huddled with advisers to Ayad al-Samarraie, the speaker of Iraq’s parliament, trying to figure out a time the two men could meet.”
“An aide to Samarraie told the vice president’s staff that the speaker had no more than 30 minutes to spare for the meeting. ‘That is the best I can do,’ the aide said in a conversation overheard at a presidential palace, as workers vainly tried to clean the aftermath of a sandstorm that has buffeted Baghdad for almost a week.”
“Some lawmakers were irritated by the secretive nature of Biden’s visit,” the paper added.
“‘They have to treat Iraq as a sovereign country,’ lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said. ‘They should have let us know, and they should be welcomed like any other leader’.”
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http://en.aswataliraq.info/?p=115587
Biden says U.S. commitment to Iraq contingent- paper
July 4, 2009 - 08:44:36
BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden has warned Iraqi officials that his government’s commitment to Iraq could end if the country again slipped into ethnic and sectarian violence, The Washington Post said in a report.
“Biden delivered the warning during a three-day visit to Iraq that began Thursday, just a few days after the United States formally withdrew most combat troops from Iraqi cities under a security agreement reached last year. It was the vice president’s first visit since President Obama asked him to take the lead on Iraq policy,” the newspaper said.
“In meetings with senior Iraqi officials, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Biden stressed that the United States would remain engaged in Iraq, even as its military role diminishes in a withdrawal that is expected to dramatically gather pace after parliamentary elections in January,” it noted.
“But a senior administration official briefing journalists said Biden made that support contingent on Iraqi progress in resolving long-standing conflicts, some that bedeviled Iraq even before the United States invaded in March 2003,” according to the report.
“If ‘Iraq were to revert to sectarian violence or engage in ethnic violence, then that’s not something that would make it likely that we would remain engaged because, one, the American people would have no interest in doing that, and, as he put it, neither would he nor the president,’ the official said.”
“He added that there ‘wasn’t any appetite to put Humpty Dumpty back together again if, by the action of people in Iraq, it fell apart’.”
“The warning was a dramatic indication of the changing U.S. posture in Iraq, the foremost foreign policy concern of the Bush administration. The statements suggested that the Obama administration would absolve itself of responsibility if Iraq again descended into chaos, dragged down by still-unresolved crises. They include border disputes between Kurds and Arabs and also legislation for Iraq’s oil resources.”
“Across Iraq, signs are rife of a diminishing U.S. role. Simply by virtue of the presence of 130,000 U.S. troops, the United States is sure to exercise decisive influence. But the power it once wielded inside Baghdad has passed. Along with last month’s pullout — and a far larger one due to end by August 2010 — staffing at the U.S. Embassy will be reduced over the year as well,” according to the newspaper.
“Even the interaction of officials seems to have changed. Early Friday, Biden’s aides huddled with advisers to Ayad al-Samarraie, the speaker of Iraq’s parliament, trying to figure out a time the two men could meet.”
“An aide to Samarraie told the vice president’s staff that the speaker had no more than 30 minutes to spare for the meeting. ‘That is the best I can do,’ the aide said in a conversation overheard at a presidential palace, as workers vainly tried to clean the aftermath of a sandstorm that has buffeted Baghdad for almost a week.”
“Some lawmakers were irritated by the secretive nature of Biden’s visit,” the paper added.
“‘They have to treat Iraq as a sovereign country,’ lawmaker Mahmoud Othman said. ‘They should have let us know, and they should be welcomed like any other leader’.”