Biden spends holiday with US troops in Iraq

Biden began Independence Day by greeting more than 200 US troops from 59 countries who were becoming American citizens at a naturalization ceremony in a marble domed hall at one of Saddam Hussein’s palaces at Camp Victory, the US military headquarters on the outskirts of Baghdad.

He then had lunch with the 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade from Delaware, to which his son, Beau, belongs. Beau Biden stood in the back as his father greeted the troops. In telling the brigade about the naturalization ceremony, the vice president used some of his characteristic colorful language.

“We did it in Saddam’s palace,’’ he said. “That S.O.B. is rolling over in his grave right now.’’

Biden was wrapping up an unusually long three-day trip to Baghdad aimed at fostering political reconciliation, just days after US combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities as part of a security pact that calls for a full withdrawal by the end of 2011.

It was Biden’s first visit as vice president and as Obama’s new unofficial point man on Iraq, although he has been to the country several times as a senator.

On Friday, Biden pressed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other political leaders to do more to bring Iraq’s factions together, as concerns grow that a lack of political progress is fueling violence.

“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. It’s not over yet,’’ Biden said at a news conference with al-Maliki.

“There are still political steps that must be taken, and Iraqis must use the political process to resolve their remaining differences and advance their national interest,’’ he said. “We stand ready, if asked and if helpful, to help in that process.’’

While Biden stressed America’s commitment to Iraq’s progress in his public remarks, a senior US official said the vice president warned the Iraqis that America won’t be able to stay involved if Iraq falls back into the cycle of sectarian violence that pushed the country to the brink of civil war.

“That’s not something that would make it likely that we would remain engaged because, one, the American people would have no interest in doing that, and, as he put it, neither would he nor the president,’’ the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks are considered confidential.

“There also wasn’t any appetite to put Humpty Dumpty back together again if, by the action of people in Iraq, it fell apart,’’ the official added.