Biden: U.S. Will Comply with Iraq Government on Withdrawal
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Thursday, September 17, 2009; 3:07 PM
BAGHDAD, Sept. 17 -- Vice President Biden said Thursday that the United States would comply with Iraq's wishes in deciding when to withdraw troops, as Iraqi leaders weigh whether to push for an accelerated pullout from the country.
Speaking to reporters in Baghdad, Biden declined to say whether he believed that the Iraqi government would move to alter the so-called status-of-forces agreement. But the vice president, who like other administration officials has sought to avoid the appearance of interfering in Iraqi affairs, said that whatever decision is made, "we will abide by it."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom Biden met during the vice president's three-day trip to Iraq, has expressed support for a proposed referendum that would hasten by a year the 2011 withdrawal deadline for all U.S. forces in Iraq. Under the current agreement, the 130,000-member U.S. military force in Iraq will be reduced to roughly 50,000 by August.
