Hastings Returns From Iraq

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Hastings Returns From Iraq
By LEAH BETH WARD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC


The morale of U.S. troops in Iraq is high, said Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Pasco, who returned earlier this week from a five-day trip to the war-torn country.

However, he said, the United States faces challenges in building the proficiency of the Iraqi police force against an active insurgency.

Hastings was part of a congressional delegation observing rebuilding efforts and U.S. military operations. He traveled through central and northern Iraq and spent time in Kuwait City, the staging area for the U.S.-led invasion last year against former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

Hastings said he talked with troops that have been deployed as long as a year as well as reservists just arriving from the state.

"In every case their morale was high. I was very pleasantly, well I won't say surprised, but gratified," he said.

Iraq's governing council is racing to put together a draft constitution by June 30. Hastings said he didn't have enough information to know whether that deadline could be met.

"It's more important what they think than what we think, but I sensed they felt very confident they could govern and go through the process of electing leadership," Hastings said.

Reports are that the insurgents, whom Hastings calls terrorists, are increasingly aiming their attacks on the Iraqi people and the local police, rather than U.S. troops. Hastings said U.S. military confirmed those reports.

Hastings said he was told that civilians routinely line up to become police officers after learning of a deadly attack on their own people.

Getting the Iraqi police force into a position where it can handle the attacks continues to be a challenge, Hastings said. Part of the change will be cultural, he added.

"Under the Saddam regime, police had different responsibilities than they do in a free society, so there's no question that's part of the difficulty we're going to face," he said.

Coincidentally, Hastings visited Iraq during the one-year anniversary of the war. While protests against the war were held in big cities across the United States, he said there were no anti-U.S. demonstrations in Iraq.
Hastings believes that Iraq can become the breadbasket of the region with its vast network of canals off the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

"I think from my observation they have tremendous economic potential," he said.

The trip yielded a moment of personal gratification for Hastings when he discovered the pilot of the military plane taking the delegation to Baghdad was a Tri-Cities graduate whom Hastings had nominated to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Hastings traveled with four other congressmen. The delegation met with the U.S. administrator for Iraq, Paul Bremer, commanders of the Combined Joint Task Force Seven and other senior U.S. officials.
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