Biden Lands In Iraq To Mark End Of War

By Andrea Salazar

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad Tuesday in a surprise visit to mark the end of the war.

During his visit, Biden will meet with Iraqi officials to discuss the future of U.S.-Iraq relations. The Vice President will also speak at an event commemorating the sacrifices and accomplishments of U.S. and Iraqi troops.

As President Obama announced in October, all U.S. combat troops will leave Iraq by Dec. 31. 

This is Biden’s eighth trip to Iraq as Vice President.

Author Says Afghanistan Would Have Been Successful Without Iraq

By Anna Cameron

During a conference call hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations on Thursday, political scientist and author Dan Caldwell noted that the American mission in Afghanistan would have been much more effective had the United States not invaded Iraq in 2003.

“I definitely believe that the United States could have achieved its goals in Afghanistan much more quickly and much more effectively had we not invaded Iraq,” said Caldwell, who is also a distinguished professor of Political Science at Pepperdine University.

“In terms of the Afghan war, I think that one of the problems there…is taking the eye off the ball after the initial military success,” he added. “We moved resources, money and people from Afghanistan to Iraq, and I think that was one of the biggest mistakes.”

Caldwell’s latest book, entitled “Vortex of Conflict: U.S. Policy Toward Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq,” focuses on the historic and political elements of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - two conflicts he argues are integrally related.

Obama Promises to Bring Iraq War to "Responisble End"

President Barack Obama spoke today in Atlanta to the Disabled American Veterans, an event effectively marking the end of combat operations in Iraq, which is officially set to end on August 31.  Obama praised the troops and asked the nation to show respect for their sacrifice.  The president emphasized that his administration has “brought more than 90,000 of our troops home from Iraq,” making good on his campaign promise to bring the war to a close.  However, as the war in Iraq winds down, the war in Afghanistan is becoming increasingly more deadly to American troops.  Obama asked for support for the war in Afghanistan, saying, “if Afghanistan were to be engulfed by an even wide insurgency, al Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates would have even more space to plan their next attack,” and that “as President of the United States, I refuse to let that happen.”

-Philip Bunnell

Obama To Speak To Veterans On End of Iraq Combat Ops

President Obama will discuss the end of combat operations in Iraq during a speech to the organization Disabled American Veterans today in Atlanta.  Combat missions in Iraq end on August 31, but Obama will say that troops stationed there will still “face likely danger.”  The speech marks the scaling back of US prescense in one theater of operations, Iraq, and a sharp increase in another, Afghanistan.

by Philip Bunnell