Vice President Biden's Relationship With Maliki Is Ending

In 2009, newly elected President Barack Obama gave Vice President Joe Biden responsibility for helping to wind down the war in Iraq. As is his habit, Biden struck up a telephone relationship with President Nouri al-Maliki. But this week, Biden put in a call to a different number. The man he called this week is Haider al-Abadi, chosen by Iraq’s President to become that country’s new Prime Minister. Evan Osnos wrote about Biden’s telephone habits as part of a lengthy profile for the New Yorker magazine.