Biden visits Iraq as combat mission ends

Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Baghdad on Monday to lead a ceremony marking the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq. 

The White House said Biden will meet with Iraqi elected officials to discuss the political stalemate there and “to urge Iraqi leaders to conclude negotiations on the formation of a new government.”

{mosads}Biden’s visit comes one day before President Obama is scheduled to deliver a prime-time Oval Office address about the end of the combat mission. Earlier in the day, he will speak to troops at Fort Bliss, Texas.

The Oval Office address comes on the heels of a major withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from the country, about seven-and-a-half years after former President George W. Bush began the war. Fewer than 50,000 troops are now in Iraq and will remain through next summer to assist with training and support operations. 

The president had set an Aug. 31 deadline to draw down troop levels and end Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Obama is expected to state that the drawdown of combat forces there fulfills one of his major campaign promises, but that the U.S. still has much work to do to tamp down Islamic extremism across the globe. 

This is the vice president’s sixth trip to Iraq since taking office in January 2009.

The White House said Biden will meet Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, Vice President Adel Abdul al-Mahdi, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, the leader of the Iraqiyya coalition, Ayad Allawi, Chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council Ammar al-Hakim and other political leaders.

— Sam Youngman contributed.

This post was last updated at 11:44 a.m.