BAGHDAD — Vice President Biden hailed what he described as a “new phase” in the relationship between America in Iraq on Wednesday at the launch of talks with the Iraqi government on ways to restructure ties between the two nations after U.S. troops have gone.
Biden flew into Baghdad late Tuesday on an unannounced visit to mark the end of the Iraq war, as U.S. troops stream out of Iraq to meet the end-of-year deadline for their departure.
The main highway leading south to Kuwait has been clogged by convoys of military vehicles for weeks, and the skies over Baghdad roar every night with the sound of transport aircraft flying soldiers home.
A key focus of Biden’s talks with Iraqi leaders is expected to be the thorny question of future military cooperation and how much military assistance it will be possible for America to continue to provide to the Iraqi security forces, given the breakdown in negotiations on securing a longer-term presence for U.S. forces in Iraq.
With only 13,000 troops now left in Iraq, down from a peak of around 170,000, both Iraqi and U.S. officials say it is unlikely any new agreement will emerge to reverse the ir governments’ mutual decision to adhere to the deadline.
“We are embarking on a new path together, a new phase in this relationship,” Biden said. “That partnership includes a robust security relationship based on what you decide — what you decide — you think that relationship should be. We will continue our discussions with your government over the substance of our security arrangements, including areas of training, intelligence and counterterrorism.”
Biden was speaking alongside Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the opening of a meeting of the Higher Coordination Committee, the body set up to implement the Strategic Framework Agreement, which will govern future relations after the expiration of the existing security agreement at the end of the year.
Among the many possibilities being discussed are an expanded role for NATO trainers, joint military exercises both inside and outside Iraq and some form of air cooperation that would address concerns on both sides that Iraq is unable to defend its airspace, U.S. Ambassador James F. Jeffrey said.
Negotiations on a continued U.S. military presence collapsed last month after Iraq refused to grant immunity from prosecution to U.S. troops who kill Iraqis, something the United States said was essential if American soldiers who stayed here were to be able to defend themselves.
Biden said he was confident the pullout is in the best interest of both countries. “And it’s in the best interest of the relationship,” he said.
“Iraq and the United States are two nations bound together by many things, but particularly bound together by the more than eight years of shared sacrifice and struggle,” he said.
“Few nations have gone through what you’ve gone through,” Mr. Biden said. “But now Iraq is poised to join the community of nations who are the great contributors to the world.”
Maliki echoed much of Biden’s message about entering a new phase in U.S.-Iraqi relations, one which he said will be “based on mutual respect.”
“Yes, we will face some difficulties,” Maliki said, adding that he hoped U.S. businesses would be drawn to invest in Iraq with the same intensity as American military forces did over the past decade. He said that as long as the U.S. and Iraq agreed on a “robust partnership,” the two sides would find much on which to cooperate.
Source: Washingtonpost
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