Pat Dollard

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Bloomberg:

July 4 — Vice President Joseph Biden told Iraqi leaders that the path to a secure peace lies in uniting ethnic and sectarian groups and said the U.S. might disengage from their country if it reverts to sustained violence.

Biden said he and President Barack Obama “appreciate that Iraq has traveled a great distance over the past year, but there is a hard road ahead if Iraq is going to find lasting peace and stability,” according to a press pool report of the vice president’s visit to Iraq.

Biden was concluding a two-day visit in Baghdad yesterday, where he held talks with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other leaders. Obama sent Biden to Iraq to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to help the country maintain its security while the U.S. military pullout proceeds there.

“Your future, successful future, is very much in our interest,” Biden said he told Maliki during private talks, according to the pool report.

He also told Maliki that if Iraq fell into a period of sectarian violence or engaged in ethnic fighting, such a step would change the nature of U.S. engagement, a senior administration official said, according to the report. The aide did not offer specifics about the change, it said.

Earlier this year, Obama put the U.S. on a path toward a complete withdrawal of troops by 2011.

The U.S. withdrew combat forces from Iraqi cities on June 30, a step that Biden said “marked a very important milestone on the road to a stable, secure and self-reliant Iraq,” according to the pool report.

Car Bombing

In Iraq, a wave of attacks that may be intended to challenge the security transfer included a car bombing in the northern city of Kirkuk earlier this week that killed at least 41 people and wounded 120. Tensions between the Iraqi Arabs and Turkmen of the area on one side and Kurds on the other have simmered for the past six years over control of land and Kirkuk’s surrounding oil fields.

Over a two-week period leading up to June 30, about 250 Iraqis were killed by bomb blasts in several cities.

Maliki told reporters after his meeting with Biden that the June 30 pullout “confirms the credibility of the agreements in place” between the U.S. and Iraq, and that the accords are “being faithfully committed.”

Even as U.S. forces withdraw, the administration is committed to maintaining a program of training and equipping Iraqi security against insurgent attacks. The accord also promises a building of commercial, cultural and education ties.

Biden’s Son

Biden, 67, earlier in the day met with General Ray Odierno, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, and Christopher Hill, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq. The vice president also had breakfast with his son Beau, 40, who is serving in Iraq as a captain in the Delaware Army National Guard.

Maliki said he discussed with Biden a future visit by Iraqi leaders to the U.S. “to meet with businessmen and representatives of universities,” according to the pool report.

It was Biden’s second trip to Iraq this year, but his first as vice president. He made several trips to Iraq as former chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Obama plans to reduce U.S. troop strength in Iraq, currently at 131,000, to no more than 50,000 by August 2010.