US Policy on Iraq
The billion dollar question is whether the US has turned its back on Iraq. Have we said enough is enough? When US Vice-President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad this week for a surprise visit, two days after taking on a new role overseeing US policy in Iraq, he said this was a moment when we “have to make sure that the Iraqis don’t take their eyes off the ultimate prize”. But in the run-up to the withdrawal of US troops from Iraqi cities, Iraqi politicians and observers in Washington were worried that it was the new US administration that was taking its eyes off the ball.
Over the last 10 days, a reshuffle in administration positions and a new role for Mr Biden overseeing the US withdrawal from Iraq and the political reconciliation there, seemed designed to recalibrate US policy on Iraq.