As I write this, Vice President Joe Biden is addressing the 10th Mountain Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team, which just arrived home from its latest deployment to Iraq. I couldn't make it to Fort Drum today, but here's what Biden is telling the Soldiers:
As
Prepared for Delivery—
Good
afternoon and thank you all for coming. It is an honor to be back up here in
the North Country, with some the Army’s finest soldiers and your outstanding
leaders, Major General Terry and Sergeant Major Greca.
I
want to thank my wife, Dr. Jill Biden, for introducing me today, and for all of
the work she is doing on behalf of military families like yours, who are heroes
in every sense of the word.
Many
of you recently returned from Iraq. Before I go any further, let me just say,
on behalf of the American people you have served so courageously: Welcome home!
You are the best of us, the best America has. We honor you and we thank you.
Welcome home.
Jill
and I understand how your families must feel at a time like this. The day that
our son Beau came back from a yearlong tour in Baghdad was one of the proudest
of our lives.
While
he was gone, we came to appreciate what the poet John Milton meant when he
said: “they also serve who only stand and wait.”
Some
of you are still waiting. Our troops in harm’s way—including about 900 members
of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team due home from Iraq in the coming
days—remain, as ever, in our thoughts and prayers.
This
is Fort Drum’s 25th year as home to the 10th Mountain Division.
As
you know, your Division’s proud history goes back much farther. Formed at the
height of World War Two, the 10th Mountain is the largest unit in
the Army focused on fighting in harsh terrain, a mission epitomized by the
motto: “climb to glory.”
Your
predecessors helped defeat the German Army along the snowy peaks and riverbeds
of the Italian Alps.
One
of them, Pfc. John D. Magrath, won a Medal of Honor for taking out three
machine gun nests and several other positions before he was struck down.
Another
was a young platoon leader severely wounded by enemy fire, who went on to
become a great United States Senator: my friend and longtime colleague Bob
Dole.
Since
that time, the 10th Mountain has earned a reputation as one of the
army’s most frequently deployed units, with tours in Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia and
Kosovo, and almost everywhere in between.
And
today’s warriors are worthy successors to that proud legacy. Our conflicts in
Iraq and Afghanistan—and the demands we have placed on our soldiers and their
families—are unlike any that came before.
Soldiers
like Jared Monti —who died while trying to rescue a wounded comrade in
Afghanistan, and was later awarded the Medal of Honor—have taken their place
alongside heroes who came before.
And
the unforgiving battlefields where you’ve fought and bled—from the Afghan Hindu
Kush to Iraq’s Triangle of Death—are as much a part of Division lore as Riva
Ridge and the Po River Valley.
More
than seven years ago, our military was given a mission in Iraq as complex and
challenging as any it has ever attempted.
A
warzone with no safe havens and no front lines. An invisible threat from
explosives that turned highways into death traps. And an enemy that used
suicide as a devastating weapon, requiring split-second decisions that could
save soldiers’ lives or cause the death of innocents.
More
than one million American service members have deployed in support of that
effort.
You
and your colleagues persevered and succeeded. With your help, Iraq’s leaders
and security forces persevered and succeeded. And therefore those who sought to
make chaos and destruction a hallmark of the new Iraq have failed.
I’ve
been looking forward to this day for a long time. One month from now, as
President Obama pledged, America’s combat mission in Iraq will end.
By
August 31, from more than 145,000 troops on the ground when this Administration
took office, 50,000 will remain.
Our
remaining troops will focus on advising and assisting Iraqi forces, on counter-terrorism
in partnership with their Iraqi colleagues, and on protecting our civilian and
military personnel and facilities.
By
the end of 2011, all of America’s forces will leave Iraq, and its security will
be wholly in the hands of its government and its people.
I
have visited Iraq many times, including four trips as Vice President, most
recently for the July 4 holiday, when Jill came with me. I have seen firsthand
what you have sacrificed and what you have accomplished.
You
and your families have endured multiple deployments—four to Iraq and three to
Afghanistan for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team alone. You have felt the
strain of missing anniversaries and holidays, and even the arrival of a newborn
child.
You
have enabled the Iraqi people to replace a tyrant with a new constitution, a
new parliament, and two national elections conducted freely, fairly, and,
by-and-large, safely.
And
perhaps most important, you have prepared Iraq’s security forces to safeguard
their future as a sovereign, stable and self-reliant country. Now it is up to
them.
All
of this is critical to American interests, because a stable Iraq is important
for stability in the Middle East, and because Iraq will be a valuable ally in
this vitally important region for years to come.
The
soldiers in this audience don’t need me to tell them how important it is for
Iraq to be able to stand on its own.
As
you recall, for this recent deployment, your commanders wisely defined success
as enabling Iraq’s transition to autonomy.
They
knew that unlike in other wars, winning would not be marked by a four-star
general receiving the enemy’s surrender, but by an Iraqi jundi leading a combat
patrol, and rival political factions settling their differences at the ballot
box.
With
that vision in mind, over the past nine months, you helped safeguard an
election; transferred 13 bases to Iraqi forces; and established two new
training academies that graduated more than 500 police and soldiers.
And
you have now been sent home three months early, having achieved every one of
your goals.
Iraqi
forces now run those academies you built. After learning from—and fighting
alongside—the world’s greatest military, they are in the lead. Thanks to you,
they are ready to do the job long after we’re gone.
Earlier
this year, an operation that Iraqis led, based on intelligence they developed,
resulted in the death of the top two leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq. And over a
three-month period, 32 of the top 42 al Qaeda commanders were killed or
captured.
That
is a major part of why Iraq is a far safer and more secure country, with
violence at its lowest level in years.
Anyone
who last spent time in Iraq in 2006 or 2007, would hardly recognize it. Back then,
the country veered towards civil war; mass casualty bombings were daily events;
and the Baghdad morgue was overwhelmed by the bodies of those executed only for
their faith or ethnicity.
Although
Al Qaeda and other extremists continue their efforts to disrupt Iraq’s
progress, they have been unsuccessful.
Today,
in an Iraq once mired in sectarian conflict, politics has broken out. Party
leaders are engaged in the difficult but essential process of forming a
government, not by violence and intimidation, but through negotiation.
And
while challenges remain, the Iraqi people have overwhelmingly rejected the ugly
face of Al Qaeda and the other violent extremists who have sought to tear their
country apart.
Iraqis
had to take that step themselves, and they have. But you made it possible. You
gave them that chance—the chance to freely choose their own government, the
chance to choose peace over violence.
Now
their political leaders must fulfill their responsibility and get on with the
business of governing.
As we gather today, nearly 80,000 troops
have come home since 2009, including 2,700 members of the 2nd Brigade Combat
Team in recent weeks. We’ve moved countless tons of vehicles and equipment.
Thousands of square miles of terrain and many dozens of military bases have
been handed over.
This
epic movement of manpower and machinery may not get the attention it deserves.
But the fact that it has gone so smoothly is itself a remarkable achievement,
confirming once again the old maxim that amateurs talk tactics and
professionals talk logistics.
At
the same time, there is another transition taking place. Rather than
disengaging from Iraq, we will shift the focus to a civilian-led effort to
transfer the skills and expertise that will enable Iraqis to unleash their
country's great potential.
We
will pursue close cooperation in diplomacy and commerce and help Iraq
reestablish its rightful role in the region and the broader community of
nations.
Meanwhile,
we will continue the important work of facilitating the return and
reintegration of displaced Iraqis who choose to go home, while protecting those
who remain in danger, a priority for us and for the international community.
President
Obama began preparing for these changes before he took office.
As
a candidate he vowed to responsibly end the war he would inherit. After the
election, but before Inauguration Day, he sent me to Iraq and Afghanistan to
assess the situations on the ground.
On
his first full day on the job, he ordered a comprehensive review of our
strategy in Iraq. And a month later, at Camp Lejeune, he described how we would
move forward.
We
have followed that plan every step of the way, and we will continue to follow
it until our last troop comes home next year.
You
have paid a heavy price for our success.
Each
of you in this audience knows exactly what I am talking about. Before your most
recent deployment, your buddy, Specialist Robert Riekhoff, re-enlisted and
returned to Iraq for his third tour.
Known
to most of you, and to his family, as “Bubba,” he emailed his mother almost
every day he was gone, just to let her know he was okay. On March 18, no email
came. While he was on guard duty in a watchtower that morning, insurgents
attacked with rocket-propelled grenades. He left behind his young son Tyler,
and daughter Katrina.
The
most sacred obligation this government has is provide for those we send into
harm’s way, and to care for the families of those who don’t return. We owe you.
That
is why President Obama insisted we support the family members serving as
caregivers for wounded warriors when they come home. It’s why we launched a
post-9-11 G.I. Bill for military veterans that will also benefit their spouses
and their children. And it is why, while we can never compensate you enough for
all you have done, we increased pay for active duty service members.
Jill
and First Lady Michelle Obama are spearheading an unprecedented government-wide
initiative to support military families and take every opportunity to remind
our citizens of the sacrifices a small percentage of them making on behalf of
us all.
Jill
and I try to do our small part by hosting veterans at Thanksgiving, and
spending Christmas Day at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with some of those
engaged in a new and incredibly difficult fight simply to return to normal
life.
But
there is little comfort we can give to the families of the fallen angels who
make their final trip home to Dover Air Force Base in my home state of
Delaware. They have paid a price few of their fellow citizens can
fathom.
Ladies
and gentlemen, we are at the dawn of a new era in Iraq. Our combat mission is
nearly complete. As President Obama vowed at Camp Lejeune:
“[W]e
will leave the Iraqi people with a hard-earned opportunity to live a better
life – that is your achievement; that is the prospect that you have made
possible.”
Iraqis
from Basra to Erbil have also made great sacrifices to reach this moment.
God-willing, and with your help, the worst of their struggles are now behind
them. And it is now up to their political leaders to match the courage their
citizens have shown and deserve to see in return.
The
final chapters of our Iraq endeavor remain unwritten. But there is one thing we
know already: the Americans that went to war in Iraq served their country as
well as any generation of fighting men and women in our remarkable history.
You
have climbed to glory and returned to a proud and grateful nation. Welcome home
Second Brigade Combat Team. God Bless America. And God Bless all of our troops.