Joe Biden lands in Iraq to underscore 'growing urgency' for new government

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on Monday to mark the end of America's combat mission and push Iraqi leaders to form a new government.

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad on Monday to mark the end of the US combat mission in Iraq and underscore America's "growing sense of urgency" that a new Iraqi government be formed.

Mr. Biden landed in Baghdad on a C-17 military transport plane – military flights are considered the only safe mode of air travel for United States officials despite the relative improvement in security – ahead of a ceremony on Wednesday marking the withdrawal of the last US combat troops from Baghdad. The drawdown is in line with President Barack Obama’s pledge to end the combat phase of the seven-year war by Sept 1.

Almost six months after Iraqis voted in national elections, talks to form a coalition government remain stalled over who would be prime minister.

“We are determined to build a long-term partnership with the government of Iraq and the Iraqi people, but to build a partnership you need a partner,” Biden’s national security adviser, Tony Blinken, told reporters shortly after arriving at the sprawling US embassy in Baghdad's more secure Green Zone.

Security forces on high alert ahead of handover

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has placed security forces under high alert ahead of the Sept. 1 handover.

As Biden arrived in the country for his fifth visit as vice president, announcements sounded at the embassy warning personnel to take cover because of possible rocket or mortar attack.

Although Baghdad has been considerably calmer than a year ago, the US embassy and the main military headquarters near the international airport have been the target of almost daily rocket attacks, which US military officials blame on Iranian-backed groups. Visiting reporters were asked to wear body armor and helmets to move between buildings at the embassy compound.

The vice president was joined at the embassy by Gen. James Mattis, the visiting commander of US Central Command that oversees the region, as well as Gen. Ray Odierno and Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin III, who takes over from General Odierno as head of US Forces-Iraq on Wednesday. Under the US-Iraq security agreement, the remaining 50,000 troops here will stay on to advise and train Iraqi forces until the end of next year.

Blinken said the US was not trying to dictate the outcome of talks to form a new government here but said "there was a growing sense of urgency" that government formation move forward.

Biden will brief leaders on Obama's speech Tuesday

Washington has called for an "inclusive government" to be formed and has been trying to find a way to bring in both Mr. Maliki and his major challenger Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite who heads a political bloc with wide Sunni Arab participation. The US has backed creating a new security council which would be led by Allawi – a body not provided for in the Iraqi Constitution – leaving Maliki to potentially remain as prime minister.

National security adviser Mr. Blinken said the vice president would brief Maliki, the Iraqi president, vice president, and other political leaders on a major address on Iraq to be given by President Obama on Tuesday night. He said among the themes were that the president was fulfilling his promise to "responsibly" end the war in Iraq and that the US will remain engaged in the country, increasing its civilian presence here as troop levels decrease.