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Boozman sees progress in Iraq despite new violence Wednesday, Apr 2, 2008 By Aaron Sadler Stephens Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - A recent uptick in violence in Iraq has not undermined American progress there, Rep. John Boozman said Tuesday, hours after returning from a trip to the Middle East. Boozman, R-Rogers, was in Iraq on Sunday. He and three other lawmakers visited Baghdad and toured two prisons. One was near Basra, the site of fierce fighting between the Iraqi military and Shiite militia groups last week. The Basra fighting came as rocket attacks of the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad increased last week. The Iraqi government said deaths were 50 percent higher in March than in February. Nevertheless, Boozman said violence overall has decreased significantly since the U.S. troop surge began last year. Lawmakers spoke with Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 U.S. commander in Iraq, who said he was 'guardedly optimistic' about the success of the surge, Boozman said. "By any measure, period, the violence has gone down dramatically, which is a good thing," Boozman said. "If you look at the violence now compared to a year ago, things like that, it's good." Boozman backed last year's troop surge and has consistently supported President Bush's decision to invade Iraq. He has repeatedly praised the effort there, though he acknowledged that Americans want an end to the war. "Everyone agrees we made a lot of mistakes up to now in prosecuting the war," Boozman said. "What we can't do is making a lot of mistakes in getting out. I'm committed to getting out, the country is committed to getting out. The question is how you do that. You can argue as to whether or not we should have gone, but we're there. We've invested a lot of time and a lot of effort and a lot of resources. "The good news is, right now, it is actually going better," Boozman said. It was Boozman's seventh trip to Iraq, the most of any member of the Arkansas congressional delegation. Political scientists said visits to the war zone give lawmakers a stronger position in the war debate on Capitol Hill. "It certainly would seem to supply a more authoritative voice to a member of Congress who can say, 'Well, as I was chatting to the troops in Iraq last week ... ' It gives him more credibility on the subject than he would otherwise have I'm sure," said Janine Parry, a political science professor at the University of Arkansas. He joined Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., and Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., on the week-long trip that focused on military and defense issues. The group visited leaders of eight African countries and visited with military officials who head the U.S. Africa command in Germany. Boozman, a member of the Africa subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, has been to Africa four times in the past five years. While in Africa, the delegation discussed counterterrorism efforts as well as humanitarian aid on the continent. On his visit to military jails in Iraq, Boozman said he saw an effective method of segregating what he called the "bad guys" linked to terrorist groups from the rest of the prison population. A high number of prisoners are merely underemployed or unemployed Iraqis who got caught up in a militia to make money, Boozman said. |
