In Iraq, Biden Paints a Holiday Ceremony With Colorful Talk

By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

BAGHDAD — Back home, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. prides himself on being a plainspoken guy, the kind who says whatever is on his mind. And on the Fourth of July in Iraq, he did not disappoint.

Mr. Biden spent Saturday morning presiding over a naturalization ceremony for 237 soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen — including 12 from Iraq — who became American citizens. He had come here, just days after American combat troops withdrew from cities, on a diplomatic mission. But Independence Day is about patriotism more than diplomacy, and the vice president struck a down-home theme.

“As corny as it sounds,” Mr. Biden declared, “damn, I’m proud to be an American.”

Mr. Biden, along with President Obama, campaigned on a platform of ending the Iraq war. He said Saturday that the United States was “on track” to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, as Mr. Obama has promised. He made note of the cost of the war: 4,322 troops killed, more than 30,000 wounded, 17,000 critically injured. Yet despite the plans for withdrawal, the setting for the ceremony was a reminder of how much the United States remained an occupying force.

The swearing-in took place in the soaring rotunda of Al Faw Palace, one of Saddam Hussein’s more glorious marble monuments to himself. Its crystal chandelier alone is a sight to behold — a giant sparkling orb, surrounded by 16 smaller chandeliers, evoking the image of planets circling the sun. Sixteen dark stone columns reach toward the ornate painted ceiling. One of Mr. Hussein’s thrones sits on the side of the room.

On Saturday, a 50-foot-long American flag served a backdrop as the soldiers, dressed in camouflage, their weapons tucked neatly under their chairs, swore to renounce all allegiance to “any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereign.” The vice president remarked that he was reminded of the founding fathers — “and yes, they’re your founding fathers, so get used to it.”

Later, Mr. Biden visited troops from Delaware, the 261st Theater Tactical Signal Brigade, whose members include his son Beau. He recounted the story of the swearing-in.

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

Weather Woes

When you are vice president of the United States, you can control a lot of things. One thing you cannot control, as Mr. Biden learned here, is the weather.

A hot wind kicked up severe sandstorms throughout Mr. Biden’s visit, covering Baghdad in a thick, brown blanket of dust. The storms played havoc with Mr. Biden’s plans, grounding flights, upending meetings and creating a delicate diplomatic situation for the vice president, whose mission included fostering better ties between Washington and Baghdad.

On Saturday, the vice president planned to make a secret trip to Erbil, a major city in Iraqi Kurdistan, to see President Jalal Talabani of Iraq and Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish regional government. But the trip was canceled because the air was too thick with sand even for a C-17 military jet to fly.

A day earlier, Mr. Biden’s helicopter was grounded, forcing his security detail to face a thorny question: would it be safe for him to take a motorcade across town from Camp Victory through Baghdad’s “red zone” — now devoid of American combat troops — to the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to the American Embassy and Iraqi government buildings?

The decision, in the end, was to take the chance and meet some Iraqis. Mr. Biden’s breakfast at the American Embassy was canceled Friday morning when he could not take his helicopter there; he tried, but Gen. Ray Odierno, the top American commander here, ordered the pilot to turn back. Instead, Ambassador Christopher R. Hill traveled to General Odierno’s home, tucked safely inside Camp Victory, for the breakfast session.

But asking Iraqi leaders to come to Camp Victory was a diplomatic sticky wicket. True, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki made the trip to Camp Victory when Mr. Obama was in Baghdad. But Mr. Biden’s mission, in his own words, was to “re-establish contact” between White House and Baghdad. It might have been an insult to insist the Iraqis see him on American military turf, just as Iraq is celebrating its transition away from dependence on Americans.

So the vice president’s entourage donned flak jackets and helmets, and made their drive — safely — into the Green Zone.

Paying a Media ‘Tax’

Mr. Biden and Mr. Maliki may have had their disagreements. But one thing they agreed on was the importance of freedom of the press — so long as it does not involve pesky reporters asking questions.

The two met Friday evening at the prime minister’s ceremonial residence, the site of the infamous shoe-throwing news conference, in which an Iraqi journalist hurled his footwear at President George W. Bush in December. When Mr. Biden showed up, a horde of American photographers and reporters rushed in after him.

Mr. Biden, making small talk, explained through an interpreter the American concept of the “pool spray”— journalistic lingo for the moment, typically at the beginning or end of some official meeting, when the press pool photographs the leaders shaking hands or engaging in chitchat.

Mr. Maliki understood and referred to it as a “tax” that all leaders must pay.

“It’s a good tax, though,” Mr. Biden replied, adding, “You can’t do anything without them writing about it.”

Mr. Maliki continued, offering an expansive assessment of the rights of the Fourth Estate, “This is their right, Mr. Vice President, and they are welcome here.”

To which Mr. Biden, even more graciously, rejoined: “It’s their right, and it’s our necessity. Who would listen to us?”

But as the pair was about to emerge, Iraqi and American officials issued the assembled press corps a warning: the leaders would read from prepared statements and take no questions.