Giffords: Support troops, but push to speed war’s end
Thursday, November 8, 2007
The Tucson Citizen
By Blake Morlock
A weekend trip to Iraq showed U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords a more secure country but still one not much closer to the political reconciliation necessary to call the war there a success.
Giffords, a Democrat representing southern Arizona, could walk the streets without helmet or flak jacket and the country seemed safer than it did during her first trip in February.
However, she is still “skeptical” about the prospects for various sides retreating from armed conflict once the U.S. troop surge ends, she said during a news teleconference Wednesday - exactly a year since her election to Congress.
“The numbers indicate the violence levels are down,” Giffords said. “The political leadership has not evolved to the point where we are confident that we are going in the right direction.”
In October, 40 American military personnel were killed in Iraq - the lowest number in 18 months. However, the Iraqis have failed to reach seven of the eight political benchmarks Congress laid out to measure success.
And the surge, providing protection for Iraqis to reach political reconciliation, can’t last much longer, Giffords said.
Military leaders have been warning that the U.S. armed forces are stretched so thin that they could not respond effectively to another threat elsewhere in the world.
“We in Congress are working to counter a president who thinks that our commitment in Iraq should last years, if not decades,” Giffords said. “Next year, we are going to really tighten down on the administration.”
At home, Giffords has faced criticism among Democrats unhappy that she has not voted to cut off funding for the war in Iraq, but Giffords says she won’t leave the troops unfunded.
She also represents Fort Huachuca and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, a pair of major military installations with a lot of soldiers fighting overseas.
“There’s a big difference between the war and the warriors,” Giffords said. “I think it’s important to have the best equipment and best training possible.”
Giffords was one of six members of the House of Representatives on the two-day trip. She was briefed by Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, and met with counterinsurgency fighters and medical personnel.
