Statement by the Vice President on the Death of Anthony Shadid

I've spent much of my career working on America's policy toward the Middle East, and particularly Iraq. Like millions of other readers around the world, I have enriched my understanding of that complex region through the reporting of Anthony Shadid. In the finest tradition of foreign correspondence, Shadid was never content merely to opine from afar. He went where the story took him--from the fall of Saddam Hussein, to the battlefields of Southern Lebanon, to the profound transformations of the Arab Spring--often at extraordinary personal risk. Few foreign correspondents of his generation, or any other, could match his mastery of the language and cultures in the region he covered. And he used those gifts to seek out those far from the corridors of power--giving voice to Iraqis, Lebanese, Egyptians and many others who might otherwise not have been heard.

Not one to dwell on his own achievements or hardships, Shadid once said, "the worst part of this job is what you put other people through." My thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones, and particularly his two young children.