US Vice President Joe Biden Visits Iraq amid Political Turmoil

Mr. Biden, the highest-ranking US official to visit Iraq since the rise of  Daesh (ISIL) and the withdrawal of American troops in 2011, met with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other government officials on Thursday night. Afterward, he flew to Erbil to meet with Kurdish leaders.

US President Barack Obama expressed concern about the stability of Mr. Abadi’s government last week, after meeting with Persian Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia. Mr. Obama said the US planned to “assess how the current government turmoil in Iraq plays itself out over the next couple of weeks” before deciding on new aid to Baghdad.

Senior administration officials briefing reporters on the Biden trip spoke more optimistically about developments in Baghdad. “In the last few days, things have trended in a more stabilizing direction,” one official said. “So it’s actually a good time to be here.”

Mr. Abadi has faced significant resistance in his attempts to appoint a cabinet to fulfill pledges to introduce political reforms and combat corruption. The move has stoked sectarian divides and prompted his opponents to call for his resignation.

The White House sees the stability of the government in Baghdad as critical to the fight against Daesh, especially as US-backed Iraqi forces are preparing for an eventual assault on Mosul.

“We have to be realistic. We are at the end of April. Once we get into July and August, it starts to get pretty hot in Iraq and things start to slow down. But we want to make as much progress as possible before the summer heat really rages,” the senior administration official told The Wall Street Journal.

Following his meeting with Mr. Abadi, Mr. Biden met Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jabouri, saying he had discussed the fight against Daesh, ensuring coordination “with all our friends here.”

“It’s real, serious, and it’s committed,” he said of the anti-Daesh effort.

The vice president’s trip was scheduled weeks ago, but wasn’t announced in advance for security reasons, officials said.

Mr. Biden has overseen much of the White House’s engagement with Iraq’s leaders since Mr. Obama took office in 2009. He is seen as the administration official who has the closest relationships with Iraqi officials.

“The vice president has been the point person on Iraq for the administration since the beginning,” the official said. “He’s been itching to get back for a while; looking for an opportunity. This seemed like a good moment to do it.”

Mr. Biden last visited Iraq in 2011 to mark the end of the war there as the US prepared to complete the withdrawal of America forces.

“The decline in oil prices has had a pretty profound impact on Iraq in general, both the government of Iraq and the Kurdish government,” the senior administration official said.

The semiautonomous Kurdistan Regional Government’s oil profit-sharing deal with Baghdad fell apart last summer and while the two sides have come together to sign a new agreement, the two sides complain that the other isn't living up to the deal.

While the US has been helping marshal resources for Iraq, “gone are the days when American taxpayers are spending tens of billions of dollars on this stuff,” the official said.

Iraq’s legislature has been gridlocked for months as protesters inside and outside parliament demand sweeping political change. Iraq began voting this week on a new slate of mostly technocratic ministers, bowing to demands from powerful anti-US cleric Moqtada al-Sadr for a new cabinet that isn’t affiliated with the strongest political parties.

Mr. Abadi has faced significant resistance in trying to vote in new officials to combat corruption and diminish sectarianism in his cabinet, including delayed voting sessions.

Mr. Sadr called tens of thousands of followers to downtown Baghdad on Tuesday to pressure parliament to vote on the new ministers, among other reforms meant to shrink Iraq’s bloated government.

Mr. Jabouri has faced resistance from more than one hundred lawmakers who oppose the list of nominees Mr. Abadi first proposed in March.

Despite a weekslong sit-in at parliament’s chambers, Mr. Jabouri managed to convene a quorum on Tuesday and cast ballots on seven ministerial positions. Mr. Jabouri then suspended the session until Saturday, when he plans to put the rest of the cabinet to a vote.