WASHINGTON, Aug. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told a national gathering of war veterans Monday overall violence is down Iraq and things are improving in Afghanistan.
Speaking at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Indianapolis, Biden said al-Qaida's efforts to foment sectarian tensions have "utterly failed," Iran's influence in Iraq is "minimal" and he expects a new Iraqi government to be formed to continue the country's transition to a stable democracy, CNN reported.
He said some early U.S. veterans of the war in Iraq "would not recognize" the country now, just a week before the official end to the presence of U.S. combat troops there.
"Some said that our drawdown would bring about more violence. Well, they were wrong," he said. UPI
