For Immediate Release
January 15, 2008

Rep. Pitts returns from trip to Middle East

Trip included stops in Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, and Israel

Washington– Last week, Representative Joe Pitts (PA-16) traveled to the Middle East as part of a Congressional delegation.  Rep. Pitts returned safely from the trip that included meetings with General David Petraeus in Iraq and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Israel. 

Rep. Pitts, traveling with his colleague Rep. Frank Wolf (VA-10), also met with the Kuwaiti Ambassador designate to Iraq during a stop in Kuwait as well as with the Council on Religious Institutions in the Holy Land in Israel.  The Council is made up of religious leaders from the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian communities that are seeking to counter the extremist messages of religious leaders that lead to violence in the name of religion.

Congressman Pitts’ statement follows:

“The impression I took away from Iraq is that our troops have made good progress in bringing security to the Iraqi people.  General Petraeus has implemented a successful counterinsurgency campaign that has struck a severe blow to al-Qaeda in Iraq and put the terrorists on the run.  General Petraeus even confirmed with us his plan to begin the drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq. 

“We met with one of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams, and I was pleased to see the work they are completing in getting critical infrastructure into Iraqi communities.  This project is only now finally being fully funded and staffed and it is making headway in restoring some element of normalcy to many communities in Iraq. 

“The most important thing I took away from Iraq is that making a precipitous withdrawal would be disastrous for the Iraqi people and the security of the region as well.  Such a withdrawal would squander the good work our troops have done in implementing General Petraeus’ new strategy.

“In Kuwait, we met with the Ambassador designate to Iraq in an effort to persuade Kuwait to open an embassy in Baghdad.  It is important for the sake of legitimacy for Iraq’s Arab neighbors recognize the government in Baghdad and provide their support.

“In Israel, we had a productive meeting with the religious leaders that form the Council on Religious Institutions in the Holy Land.  The purpose of the council is to bring together religious leaders from the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian backgrounds in order to give some moral authority to the push for peace in the Middle East.

“Religion is at the root of much of the violence in the region, so there is little hope for peace there without religious authorities that are willing to counter the messages of violence and hatred that are spoken by extremist religious leaders.  The purpose of this council is to counter those messages of hate and violence by leaders with the moral authority to do so.  They also have a goal to work with educators in order to rid school textbooks of the hate filled rhetoric that encourages violence from the children of the region.  I was encouraged by the goals of the council in their effort to aid in the peace process.”  

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