Spotlight On The 12th District

On his recent trip to Iraq, Congressman Barrow was briefed on the steps being taken to better protect our solders from roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices (IED's).

November 17, 2007

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, Congressman Barrow joined Congressmen Jay Inslee of Washington, Mark Kennedy of Minnesota, John Kline of Minnesota, Tom Cole of Oklahoma, and Mike Sodrel of Indiana for a four day trip to Iraq to visit the troops and discuss the ongoing military situation with the commanders in the field.

Soon after returning, Congressman Barrow wrote the following column about his visit to Iraq:

Give Our Troops the Time & Support They Need to Finish the Job in Iraq

Over the past few weeks, a lot of rhetoric and a lot of spin have come out of Washington about the ongoing situation in Iraq. Political partisanship on both sides of the aisle has fueled accusations of “cowardice,” “botched intelligence,” and “cut and run” strategies. Some have asked Congress to immediately reevaluate the reasons for going to war in the first place, while others have gone so far as to say that this war can never be won. Unfortunately, all this is happening while American men and women are fighting and dying thousands of miles away in Iraq.

Enough is enough.

Congress needs to get out of the sandbox and focus on the real job at hand – protecting and supporting the troops presently serving in harm’s way. The recent overdose of after-the-fact political posturing is making it harder to finish the job in Iraq. There will be a time and a place to investigate accusations of pre-war intelligence failures, but now is the time to support our men and women in uniform as they dodge bullets, Iraqi insurgents, and roadside bombs – not a time to play the blame game.

Before we went to war, the administration defined success in Iraq as removing Saddam Hussein from power, defeating the Iraqi army, and establishing a self-sustainable democracy in Iraq. Our troops did an outstanding job on both of the first two objectives, and in short order. What’s important right now is that we look forward and clearly define the steps it will take to achieve the final objective. Establishing a plan for success will provide a measure of accountability for our troops and our country as we wage this last stage of the war in Iraq.

I’m opposed to an immediate troop withdrawal or an arbitrary timeline for pulling out. Instead, I support a realistic plan that will serve as a blueprint and benchmark for what we hope to finally accomplish in Iraq. Our goals should focus on successfully training Iraqi military forces, so that the Iraqis can begin to take responsibility for themselves.

That’s a vision of success that we can all share. When a democratic Iraq can govern and defend itself, our troops can come home confident that the achievements so many have fought and died for will not go up in smoke the minute they leave.

To set realistic goals, the administration and the Congress need to listen more closely to the commanders on the front line – the ones who face the insurgency on a day-to-day basis. I learned this first-hand during a recent trip to Iraq, where I spent four days on the ground with our troops and our military leaders.

During my trip I witnessed Iraqi Security Forces training, which is well underway and getting better. I also visited an IED (Improvised Explosive Devise) training area, an up-armoring facility, and forward operating bases. On my way back to the United States, I stopped in Germany to visit wounded soldiers recovering in one of our military medical facilities. Many receive treatment there before making their way back home.

When you talk to our troops in Iraq, you appreciate how proud they are of the work they’re doing. We have the finest military force anywhere in the world, and the men and women serving overseas represent our country with honor and courage. They’re doing an outstanding job laying the foundations for a new democracy in the Middle East.

When you talk to the military commanders, they’re also proud of the job they’re doing. However, the thing they want more than anything else is time – time enough to effectively train the Iraqi forces that will take over when we leave. Time to finish the job so that we won’t have to go back.

We need to prioritize our resources. No one wants to see the progress in Iraq disintegrate into a new breeding ground for terrorism. Moving forward, the best way to accomplish our mission is to make sure our troops and our commanders have everything they need to get the job done from here on out. That starts by outlining a realistic plan that sets realistic goals to measure our future progress in Iraq.