Vice President Joe Biden said after a three-day trip to Baghdad that the American people will see President Barack Obama�s Iraq policy as a success when the �combat mission� ends on schedule Aug. 31. Biden said the administration �will be able to point to it and say, �We told you what we�re going to do, and we did it.��

�I think America wins,� Biden told POLITICO in an end-of-trip interview at the ambassador�s residence in the sprawling U.S. Embassy complex. �I sound corny, but I think America gets credit here in the region. And I think everybody gets credit, from George Bush to [President Obama].

�I think Americans will recognize that there aren�t body counts … that they got 95,000 people home. That will be noticeable that they�re home.”

The chief purpose of Biden�s visit was to prod Iraqi politicians to form a government and end a four-month stalemate that followed parliamentary elections. The vice president said security in the country �doesn�t really relate to whether there�s a government formed or not.�

�The government that is the interim government now � a little like our interregnum period between November and January � is actually functioning in terms of security,� he said. �I am hopeful � I am confident � that in the relatively near term, they�re going to be able to work out an agreement on … the new government.�

Biden said he hopes a resolution will come �by the end of the summer and maybe even considerably sooner.�

But he added with a smile, �That�s like trying to decide when the Senate�s going to pass health care: They did it, but it� took a while.

Biden said improved conditions in Iraq will bolster Democrats with voters in November.

�They are going to take a look and see that the president kept his promise getting troops home, which will give them more confidence in the foreign policy he set,� Biden said.

(Source: Politico)