“We wanted to travel to Iraq to carry a united message in support of our troops,” said Shuster, a member of the Armed Services Committee.  “There has been a lot of talk in Washington about progress in Iraq and by going straight to the source we can find out exactly how far we have come in such a short time.  The situation on the ground is far better than has been reported, particularly with Iraqi Security Forces and Iraqi leadership.” 

“I want to thank Congressman Shuster for putting this trip together which has proven to be extremely productive and helpful.  I was happy to see our troops in such high morale and to see the progress they are making in cooperation with the Iraqi people.  Over the past few days we have met with generals, soldiers, Iraqi officials, and Iraqi people.  The unifying force among them is they are very optimistic about what is going on in Iraq and what the future of Iraq will be.  They are not saying that we are out of the woods yet, but they are saying that we have made a lot of progress,” said Kingston, vice-chairman of the House Republican Conference. 

During their travels to Iraq the delegation meet with U.S. and Iraqi military leaders who provided an update on a range of issues, including the build up and advancements of the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).  ISF have taken over a considerable amount of battlespace around the country.  In fact, ISF control 50 percent of the battlespace in the area of Baghdad and are performing operations. 

“We went to Iraq to meet with our troops, hear their perspectives on the war on terrorism, and to get a first-hand update on the progress,” said Rehberg, a member of the Military Quality of Life and Foreign Operations Appropriation Subcommittees.  “As members of Congress, we need to make sure they have the tools they need to do their jobs.  And it was equally important to let them know the people of this country really do support them.” 

On December 15 Iraqis will elect a 275-seat Council of Representatives, which will then be charged with appointing a president and two deputy presidents.  After the election it is imperative for the Iraqi government to take over and accelerate their military and police operations.  Additional ISF will be in place to ensure a safe election and in total their force will include 80,000 more troops than were on the ground for the January 15 election. 

The Congressional Delegation met with Minster of Defense Ali Allawi and Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Chalabi, among other Iraqi officials.  Iraqi leaders reiterated that as the new government begins to take shape more Iraqi leaders will emerge.  Leadership will be an integral component to the success of democracy in Iraq because individual roles will promote the freedoms and liberties that were brutally suppressed by Saddam Hussein’s regime.