Washington, Mar 25 -
The Connecticut Post
By: Peter Urban
U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays returned Monday from his 20th visit to Iraq since the war began five years ago, convinced that "noticeable and impressive progress" continues to be made there, even as the American death toll passed the 4,000 mark.
Shays spent Saturday and Sunday in Iraq, where he found Iraqi military forces are "doing more of the heavy lifting" and Iraqi tribal leaders are cooperating more with coalition forces to root out insurgents.
"We are able to get out to parts of Iraq and feel relatively comfortable," he said.
Insurgents, he said, have been swept out of much of Iraq, with the exception of parts of Baghdad, some sections of Diyala province and a significant portion of Mosul. And the number of fatal attacks against American forces has subsided, Shays said.
"Every life is precious and every death heart wrenching, but we have had less heart-wrenching events in the past year because of the success of the surge," he said.
The overall American death toll surpassed 4,000 when a roadside bomb killed four U.S. soldiers in Baghdad Sunday. The pace of American fatalities, however, has slowed as attacks have dropped since the beginning of the so-called surge last year. It has taken nine months for fatalities to rise from 3,500 to 4,000, from June 2007 until now.
By contrast, the increase from 3,000 to 3,500 took six months — from December 2006 to June 2007 — according to the Associated Press.
Among the 4,000 dead are 29 from Connecticut, the last in October, Sgt. Jason Lantieri, of Killingworth.
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, who has been traveling the past two weeks in the Middle East and Europe, issued a statement from Rome Monday noting the 4,000-death milestone.
"The 4,000 Americans who have given their lives in Iraq in service of our country, our security and our freedom are America's new greatest generation," Lieberman said. "When I meet their families, the request they most often make to me is to do everything I can to make sure their loved ones did not give their lives in vain. I promise them I will. And today in Iraq we are.
"Because of the courage of America's men and women in uniform, the people of Iraq have al-Qaida and the Iranian-backed terrorists on the run and are taking control of their own future. We are moving to a victory in Iraq, which will truly honor the memory of those whose lives have been lost there. We owe them and their families everything," he said.
Rep. Chris Murphy, D-5, saw it differently. "After five years of fighting, we have lost too many American lives for too little progress from the Iraqi government. On this somber occasion, we honor those who serve their country with bravery and honor, and my prayers are with the families who have lost a loved one in Iraq," Murphy said.
Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said the nation recognizes the "grim milestone that these deaths mark — to date, 4,000 brave men and women in uniform have given their lives in Iraq." Going forward, he said, the United States must establish a clear plan for Iraq. "As the 'surge' comes to an end, and with Afghanistan posing a serious threat to national security, we are still left with no strategy for how to move forward in Iraq. It is time to develop a responsible and comprehensive strategy for how to move forward in Iraq and address our other pressing national security concerns around the world," Dodd said.
Shays, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on national security, has returned to Iraq every three or four months to keep himself updated on the status of the war.
After issuing a gloomy report in December 2006 that found Iraq regressing, Shays said the situation has improved, although Iraq still is not ready to stand on its own. The biggest problem, he said, continues to be political infighting between Shiite, Sunni and Kurd factions that makes governing a challenge. Shays met with Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, who Shays said has sometimes been a roadblock in building a national consensus in Iraq. "We had some very frank discussions with him," Shays said.
Shays said he was able to travel to Diyala province and visit Sadr City, a suburb of Baghdad, where violence has been curbed but safety is relative.
A series of rockets or mortars exploded Sunday in the U.S.-protected Green Zone about 200 yards away from the building where Shays and other members of Congress were gathered. Some 10 blasts were heard starting shortly before 6 a.m. in the sprawling area in central Baghdad, which houses the U.S. and British embassies, the Iraqi government headquarters and thousands of American troops. Helicopters buzzed overhead, and the U.S. public address system there warned people to "duck and cover" and to stay away from windows, according to the Associated Press.
"One landed about 150 to 200 yards away but we were bedded down in a pretty safe area," Shays said. "They told us not to get near the windows."
Later in the day, Shays was in Sadr City, where the rocket attacks were said to have originated. At a local police station, Shays said he was shown a makeshift missile launcher and an unexploded handmade missile that insurgents have used against the Americans. The weapon, Shays said, was not very sophisticated and the entire attack could have been launched by a handful of people.
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