THE APPALLING Mr Biden on Iraq troops withdrawals:

“We're not claiming victory,’’ he said. “What we're claiming here is that we've done our job — ending the war we did not start, to end it in a responsible way, (and) to bring Americans home. (We want to) end bleeding both financially and physically that this war has caused, and to leave in place, the prospect of a trained military, a trained security force within democratic institutions. It's not done yet, but there's real hope.’’

A more defeatist and gutless statement you cannot imagine.