Pingree Returns Rom Visit to Iraq, Afghanistan
IRAQRECAP
Bangor Daily News
Drew FitzGerald
Boston University Washington News Service
Feb. 20, 2009
WASHINGTON – Freshman Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said she is closer to understanding what U.S. forces need to do to achieve victory in Iraq after finishing a week-long tour of the Middle East Friday.
Pingree, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, spent the congressional recess with two Democratic and three Republican House colleagues visiting Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Afghanistan.
Pingree, who was not in Congress in 2003 but publicly opposed the war in Iraq, said in a Wednesday phone interview that the U.S. military and reconstruction campaign in Iraq has achieved some success. She said it is too soon to tell, however, whether democracy will stand on its own there after American forces withdraw.
“That was one of the key questions that we asked over and over again: What is going to slide back when we leave, and what can we achieve with our limited resources?” Pingree said. “I don’t think I came to a final answer on this, but I got a lot of information that is going to help make a final decision.”
The congressional delegation included a spectrum of perspectives, Pingree said, including members who voted to authorize President George W. Bush to invade Iraq and one, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Calif., who as a Marine officer served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, Pingree visited Maine service members training Afghan police and met with U.S. Ambassador William Wood.
“You can see the problems we face in Afghanistan that have been made worse because we took our eye off the ball there and turned our attention to Iraq,” she said.
Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, traveled to Iraq last August with fellow members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health “to assess the progress of political, military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq,” focusing on health safety.
“Trips like this give me real-time data and perspectives that inform my activities and decisions back in Washington,” Michaud wrote in a statement after his return.
Michaud spokesman Ed Gilman said the 2nd District representative plans to visit Afghanistan this year.
IRAQRECAP
Bangor Daily News
Boston University Washington News Service
Feb. 20, 2009
WASHINGTON – Freshman Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, said she is closer to understanding what U.S. forces need to do to achieve victory in Iraq after finishing a week-long tour of the Middle East Friday.
Pingree, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, spent the congressional recess with two Democratic and three Republican House colleagues visiting Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain and Afghanistan.
Pingree, who was not in Congress in 2003 but publicly opposed the war in Iraq, said in a Wednesday phone interview that the U.S. military and reconstruction campaign in Iraq has achieved some success. She said it is too soon to tell, however, whether democracy will stand on its own there after American forces withdraw.
“That was one of the key questions that we asked over and over again: What is going to slide back when we leave, and what can we achieve with our limited resources?” Pingree said. “I don’t think I came to a final answer on this, but I got a lot of information that is going to help make a final decision.”
The congressional delegation included a spectrum of perspectives, Pingree said, including members who voted to authorize President George W. Bush to invade Iraq and one, Rep. Duncan D. Hunter, R-Calif., who as a Marine officer served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, Pingree visited Maine service members training Afghan police and met with U.S. Ambassador William Wood.
“You can see the problems we face in Afghanistan that have been made worse because we took our eye off the ball there and turned our attention to Iraq,” she said.
Rep. Mike Michaud, D-Maine, traveled to Iraq last August with fellow members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health “to assess the progress of political, military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq,” focusing on health safety.
“Trips like this give me real-time data and perspectives that inform my activities and decisions back in Washington,” Michaud wrote in a statement after his return.
Michaud spokesman Ed Gilman said the 2nd District representative plans to visit Afghanistan this year.
