United States Vice President, Joe Biden took his first trip to Iraq on the occasion of U.S Independence Day and spent his time meeting his son and other U.S troops stationed in Iraq. The trip comes at the time, when the vice-president urged the Iraqi government and citizens to let go of bittier rivalries and concentrate on the development of the county.

Taking an unannounced break from the U.S politics., Joe Biden took time out to be present at the naturalization ceremony for 237 U.S. troops from 59 countries. The ceremony was held at one of the former palaces of the ousted and now deceased President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein. This compound has now come to be known as Camp Victory, the military headquarter for the armed force of the United States of America and is known to be one of the safest places in Iraq.

Joe Biden’s son, Beau Biden is a part of the 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, with whom the vice president took lunch with. After the lunch, Joe Biden addressed the troops, appreciating them for their bravery and emphasizing on the challenges that lay ahead of them, including the nature of the naturalization ceremony.

During the speech, he stated,

“We did it in Saddam’s palace, and I can think of nothing better. That S.O.B. is rolling over in his grave right now.”

This trip was largely aimed at offering support to the Iraqi government for reconciliation efforts, since the withdrawal of U.S troops from Iraqi cities. The withdrawal of U.S troops came into effect as part of U.S President Barrack Obama’s withdrawal strategy.

According to Ali al-Dabbagh (Spokesperson, Iraqi Government),

“The political situation won’t accept that the United States intervenes in an internal issue, whether that issue is reconciliation, relations between various Iraqi groups or between the (self-ruled Kurdish) region and Baghdad. The U.S. administration is concerned about the absence of progress on some political issues in Iraq and this is clear. “But the prime minister said that these are internal issues and it is the Iraqis who will handle the matter and the interference of non-Iraqis in these issues will create unnecessary complications and problems.”

Via AP.