Soccer Dad

Biden: we won't support iraq

The Washington Post reports Link Between Iraq Violence, Troop Withdrawals Considered:

The latest bombings have highlighted the still-fragile state of the Iraqi government and security forces as the war enters a new phase and U.S. influence in the country continues to wane. Some senior defense officials speculated that the recent increase was part of a last push by Sunni extremist groups, who appeared to be marshaling their resources in May, to make their presence felt before the formal deadline for the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq's cities.

"We knew that if al-Qaeda in Iraq had only five bombs left, they were going to use them all as the last of our forces left the cities," said a senior defense official who follows Iraq. "They wanted to create the narrative that they had driven us from Iraq. Next, they'll want to build the narrative that the Iraqi security forces can't protect the people."

Naturally Vice President Biden has found exactly the right thing to say:

Mr. Biden spent the day in closed-door meetings to assess Iraq's political and security situation as part of his new role as an unofficial envoy for the Obama administration. He emerged from a session with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki to issue a carefully worded statement -- partly an offer of support, partly a nudge to action.

"The president and I appreciate that Iraq has traveled a great distance over the past year, but there is a hard road ahead if Iraq is going to find lasting peace and stability," Mr. Biden said. "It's not over yet."

Calling on Iraqis to "use the political process to resolve their remaining differences and advance their national interest," the vice president said he and Mr. Obama "stand ready, if asked and if helpful, to help in that process."

But in private, officials said, Mr. Biden's tone was more direct. One official said the vice president made it clear that if Iraq returned to ethnic violence, the United States would be unlikely to remain engaged, "because one, the American people would have no interest in doing that, and as he put it, neither would he or the president."

So the Vice President has signaled that if the inter-ethnic violence worsens, the United States will wash its hands of Iraq. I quoted from Michael Rubin last week, and his warning seems apt given Biden's comments:

In Cairo, Mr. Obama said the U.S. had no permanent designs on Iraq and declared, "We will support a secure and united Iraq as a partner, and never as a patron." Indeed. But until the Iraqi government is strong enough to monopolize independently the use of force, a vacuum will exist and the most violent factions will fill it.

Power and prestige matter. Withdrawal from Iraq's cities is good politics in Washington, but when premature and done under fire it may very well condemn Iraqis to repeat their past.

Remember during the campaign, that Biden claimed that our enemies might test the new President? He didn't let on that he, himself, might make matters worse. Looks like he isn't helping much on the domestic front either. (via memeorandum)