Vice President Biden spoke at the change of command ceremony in Iraq a day after the President officially announced the end of combat operations in Iraq.

The Vice President thanked the troops, allies, and Iraqis for their hard work and sacrifice in the face of difficult conditions, but perhaps more importantly urged Iraqi politicians to come to an agreement to end the ongoing stalemate between politicians and form the next government.  Since the March 2010 elections were held, acting interim Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his party have refused to accept their slim loss to former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's secular party. 

Questions about whether or not the surge worked in stabilizing the country are still up in the air because of political deadlock.  There is no question that the surge did help lower the level of violence in the country, but unless the Iraqis can form a stable government on their own, it might have been all for nought.  This is of course not taking into account the lack of judgment by the previous administration for invading Iraq at all, while taking their eye off of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In any event, watch teh Vice President's comment below: