December 2, 2011U.S. Will Win Fight for Influence in Iraq, Biden Says
Erbil, Iraq—Vice President Joe Biden said the U.S. will flex its diplomatic and economic might to ultimately beat Iran in the battle for influence in Iraq after the withdrawal of U.S. troops this month.
"The real way people gain influence other than through force is having an influence on the institutions, the formation of the institutions and the function of the institutions," Mr. Biden said in an interview during his flight from Baghdad to Iraq's Kurdish region in the north. "And that's the U.S."
Mr. Biden's three-day trip served as a symbolic U.S. farewell, capped on Thursday by a ceremony signaling the end of the war. At the ceremony, Mr. Biden and Iraqi leaders addressed an audience of U.S. and Iraqi troops inside a palace commissioned by Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi dictator who was executed five years ago this month. The American and Iraqi national anthems played, and flags from both countries decorated the stage.
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Mr. Biden made no declaration of victory in the war, which began nine years ago, and said in the interview that the U.S. never will. "It's not an American victory," he said. "It will be an Iraqi victory that we should proud of. ... We were able to turn lemons into lemonade here."
The Iraq war has claimed more than 4,400 American lives, left some 32,000 service members injured and cost U.S. taxpayers over $800 billion.
The end of the war has raised concerns about where the country will turn in the absence of an American military presence. To many observers, Iraq appears to be at a crossroads, and the coming months will determine whether its leaders continue to align with the U.S. and its Arab allies in the region.
To keep Iran's clout in check and maintain the U.S.'s influence in the absence of a troop presence, the Obama administration is preparing to make a push to ensure American institutions and expertise are available in postwar Iraq, said Mr. Biden, who spent three days in Iraq this week.
The effort seeks to use U.S. expertise to amplify the potential of Iraq's own resources—namely oil—in hopes that the result is appealing enough not only to thwart external influence from Iran, but also to hold together a unified government.
Mr. Biden said no U.S. troops will be sent back to Iraq after the last leave later this month.
"Oil's the glue that's going to hold this country together," he said, "because they've all also figured out that for all the bravado, all the anger, all the frustration, all the worries, that the resource as a whole is so gigantic."
But U.S. officials are concerned about the threat of an Iraqi government collapse in sectarian division after the American troops leave. There is deep mistrust among Iraq's ethnic and religious factions.
Mr. Biden, who has served as President Barack Obama's top emissary to Iraq, said Iraqi pride and the potential of the country's oil reserves will hold the Iraqi government together.
"These guys have all figured they are much better off in the deal than out of the deal," Mr. Biden said. "I worry about it, but I think the likelihood of there being a single flashpoint that can bring this government down, that can rip it asunder, is highly unlikely."
Fewer than 15,000 U.S. troops remained in the country on Thursday. An agreement on the withdrawal deadline was struck in 2008, under President George W. Bush. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki publicly thanked Mr. Bush on Thursday for signing the agreement and saluted Mr. Obama for seeing it through.
Mr. Maliki also appeared to use the ceremony to send a message to Iran.
"The withdrawal operation will take away all the slogans that some countries hide behind in order to interfere in the internal affairs of Iraq," he said.
In a private meeting this week, Mr. Biden told Mr. Maliki that the U.S. expects Iraq to have a relationship with Iran, but warned the administration expects the Iraqi government not to allow Iran to target Americans who remain in the country, a senior administration official said.
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