Tales from the Trail

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill,  spent Independence Day on a mission to Iraq, visiting with some of the 80,000 U.S. troops still serving there.

The visit included a naturalization ceremony for about 150 service members who chose the holiday to become U.S. citizens.

When Biden took the microphone, he pointed out that the ceremony was taking place inside what used to be  one of Saddam Hussein’s many palaces.

“The thing I love so much about the day is the irony,” Biden said.

“Here we are in the hunting lodge of a dictator who subjugated a people, who in fact stood for everything that we don’t stand for, and we are in the middle of this marble palace making a lie of everything that he stood for.  I find it delicious.”

Biden also took care of some political business, meeting with Iraqi politicians.

Here’s an indepth look at that aspect of the vice president’s Iraq visit:

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Photo Credits: REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani (Vice President Joe Biden at a naturalization ceremony at Al-Faw Palace in Baghdad’s Camp Victory July 4, 2010)