Tags : beau biden, iraq, iraq war, Joe Biden
Biden Welcomes Home Son Beau From Iraq
Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday welcomes home his oldest son, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, from a year-long deployment in Iraq.
Biden and Second Lady Jill Biden are attending a ceremony in Dover honoring the Delaware Army National Guard 261st Signal Brigade on their return. The Vice President will deliver remarks during the ceremony, just as he had a year ago for the brigade’s deployment.
The 40-year-old Beau Biden is captain of the 261st Signal Brigade. He temporarily left his post as state attorney general October 2008. There is speculation that he may run in next year’s special election for his father’s Senate seat, which is occupied by an appointee, former Biden aide Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-DE).
The United States completed its withdrawal from Iraq’s cities, towns and villages on Tuesday as part of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed by the U.S. and Iraqi governments December last year. The agreement also requires that all U.S. troops be redeployed from the entire country by Dec. 31, 2011.
The Pentagon plans to pull out all combat troops by August next year. A residual force of 35,000 to 50,000 troops, however, will remain to help in the transition until 2011.
Security has been complicated by, among others, disagreement over the boundaries of the Kurdistan Regional Government, which seeks to have Mosul and oil-rich Kirkuk under its control. The KRG had also entered into deals with oil companies while a national oil legislation was being passed by Parliament and despite warnings from U.S. officials.
Biden has been appointed by the White House to work with Gen. Ray Odierno, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and Amb. Christopher Hill in facilitating the political reconciliation of tribal factions and autonomous regions needed in Iraq during the transition. He made his third trip this year to Baghdad two weeks ago.
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