Visit bolsters Giffords’ Iraq stance

Sunday, February 25, 2007

By U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords

SPECIAL TO THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR

As a new member of Congress, it is an honor to serve on two highly distinguished panels, the House Armed Services and the Foreign Affairs committees.
I am briefed regularly on the situation in Iraq by top-level Pentagon and State Department officials, as well as policy experts from around the world. But I learned more during my recent brief trip to Baghdad than I could have learned through months of hearings on Capitol Hill.
Along with colleagues from the House and Senate, I met with U.S. military and Iraqi leaders. They included Lt. Gens. David Petraeus and Raymond Odierno, the commanders for multinational and U.S. forces, respectively; U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad; and Iraqi officials.
Although our delegation was required to stay in the protected areas of the Green Zone and Camp Victory, the experience allowed me to see the war firsthand.
I was not in Congress when President Bush was given authorization for the Iraq war. Had I been, the war would not have received my support. This costly military effort has diverted valuable resources away from the global war on terrorism and threatened our readiness.
The president’s latest plan to add at least 21,000 troops is not a smart strategy. That is why I voted against it. A long-term solution in Iraq must aggressively address Iraq’s complex political and economic challenges.
I returned from the trip even more convinced that our military – however formidable – cannot resolve this war by itself. I am equally convinced that we need to phase down in a responsible manner.
But no matter how much I may disagree with this war, the fact is we are in it. It is real. And as was vividly demonstrated to me on the ground, Southern Arizona is doing its fair share.

In Iraq, I spent time with several servicemen and women from Arizona, including two colonels from Fort Huachuca and a member of Tucson’s 162nd Fighter Wing of the Arizona Air National Guard. I witnessed their resolve and commitment to their mission. Like the many other troops on the front lines, they demonstrated incredible professionalism and displayed very high morale.

Southern Arizona is home to some of the finest U.S. soldiers who have been deployed. Unfortunately, they have not all returned. Since I was sworn in to Congress in January, four brave young men from Arizona’s 8th Congressional District have died in Iraq and many have been wounded. They, and their families, have honorably made a profound sacrifice for our nation and we are forever grateful.
We are also home to considerable defense infrastructure, from Army intelligence training and electronic testing at Fort Huachuca to the critical air support our troops count on from Air Force jets out of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base.
Southern Arizona is making the deployed combat soldier and Marine in Iraq safer, more aware of his surroundings and able to call upon the full force of the U.S. military to complete his mission.
Southern Arizona is playing a vital role in helping to ensure our armed forces remain the most formidable in the world. Our nation is at war and, as Patrick Henry said: “The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone. It is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.”
As a member of Congress, I am responsible to help to make sure that our troops have what they need to be successful in their dangerous and difficult missions. I take that very seriously, and I am committed to doing what’s right for our troops, for our state and for our nation.

Click here to read the article in the Arizona Daily Star