The United States remains on track for its drawdown in troops from Iraq by August despite the political stalemate in Baghdad, US Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview broadcast Sunday. "There is a transition government. There is a government in place that's working," Biden told ABC's "This Week" when asked if the US administration can meet its commitment to end its combat mission in August
"Iraqi security is being provided by the Iraqis, with our assistance. We're going to have - still have 50,000 troops there. We will have brought home 95,000. There is no one in the military who thinks there's any reason we can't do that."
Biden acknowledged the difficulties among Iraqi parties in reaching a power-sharing agreement but said this would not affect the US drawdown. "I don't have a doubt in my mind that we'll be able to meet the commitment of having only 50,000 troops there and it will not in any way affect the physical stability of Iraq," he said.
Iraqi political parties "are in negotiations right now to figure out how to allocate the power within that government," he said. "In other words, share power. And it is about just that. And it's underway. And it's going to happen. There will be a central government with control of its foreign policy, with control of the military."
Biden's comments came days after Washington urged Iraqis on all sides to make greater efforts to overcome differences and end a four-month stalemate in forming a government.
Comments
Comments are closed.