Giffords returns from Iraq trip; calls U.S. military ‘extraordinary’

Wilcox Arizona Range News
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
By Bill Hess/WICK Communications

WASHINGTON – The security and terrorist threat situation in Iraq is on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ mind.

A week before her wedding, she went to Iraq with five other members of the House Armed Service Committee to get a personal view of how training of Iraqi forces is progressing.

“There were three Ds (Democrats ) and three Rs (Republicans) on the bipartisan trip,” said Giffords, a Democrat, during a telephone interview on Wednesday. The trip included a full day in Iraq and a stop in Germany to visit the Army’s Landstuhl medical facility.

The representative of the 8th Congressional District said she heard good and bad news on her trip.

“October was a positive month. It was the lowest casualty month recently,” Giffords said.

But, she added, “As a whole 2007 has been the deadliest year.”

Even though it is still too early to know if Gen. David Petraeus’ surge policy, which has the support of President Bush, is working, there are signs it is going well, the congresswoman said.

“We have the most extraordinary military,” she said.

But the costs of $12 billion a month cannot continue forever, Giffords said.

The efforts of al-Qaida in Iraq seem to be diminishing, but the terror group is once again having successes in Afghanistan, she said.

The potential for a conflict between Turkey and Kurdish rebels of the PKK also faces the U.S. military leaders in Iraq.

“Turkey has a hundred thousand soldiers on the (Iraqi) border,” the congresswoman said.

The Turkish, Iraqi and American governments must work to diffuse the situation, which means getting the attention of Kurds inside and outside of Turkey, Giffords said.

The delegation was able to see Iraqi special forces and special police in training. To Giffords, it appears that training is working.

During a visit to Balad, the delegation watched medical procedures at one of the U.S. Army’s most sophisticated forward operating facilities.

“It is truly, truly extraordinary,” she said of the hospital that can receive, operate on and stabilize a wounded American and generally have them on their way to Germany in a day.

The hospital also supports other coalition forces, including severely wounded Iraqis.

It takes a little longer, usually two days, to move an Iraqi who has been wounded to Landstuhl for additional medical help, Giffords said.

An Iraqi case she saw was a young soldier who had been thrown into a fire pit by the enemy. He had burns over more than 70 percent of his body.

During the stop in Iraq, the congressional delegation also learned the leader of Pakistan declaring martial law and suspending that nation’s constitution. Giffords said President Pervez Musharraf must return Pakistan to the path to democracy.

For Giffords, the trip, as previous ones to Iraq, has strengthened her understanding of the importance of Fort Huachuca and its Intelligence Center and Signal Corps capabilities.

What she hopes to impart to her fellow committee members “is the critical importance and asset Fort Huachuca is.”

Click here to read the article on the Arizona Range News website