Pingree visits Iraq with congressional delegation
2/17/09 | 8 comments
Iraq

Pingree visits Iraq with congressional delegation


By Drew FitzGerald
Boston University Washington News Service

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, after a visit to Iraq this week, said she remains uncertain about whether that country has become secure enough for U.S. forces to leave.

Pingree, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, is one of six House members — three Democrats and three Republicans — who went to Iraq to better understand the effectiveness of U.S. military and reconstruction efforts almost six years after the United States invaded the Middle Eastern nation.

The six are spending most of the congressional recess this week in the Middle East.

On Sunday, they visited an open-air market outside Baghdad and lunched with military service members, according to Pingree spokesman Willy Ritch. The representatives also met with Gen. Ray Odierno, the commander of multinational forces in Iraq.

Pingree said in a telephone interview that the country is “clearly becoming more secure,” though the question remains, she added, whether it is safe enough for U.S. forces to withdraw.

She said members of Congress are always protected under the strictest security while visiting Iraq.

“For all the gains that we’ve made, we spend our entire time in armored cars and … are never more than five inches away from someone with a lot of weapons,” Pingree said. “It’s not a secure place to be.”

The group spent two days in Iraq before moving on to another country in the region. For safety reasons, military organizers are keeping the times and locations of the delegation’s forthcoming visits secret until all the members return to the United States, Ritch said.

The Armed Services Committee warned its members traveling to Iraq against talking about their trip before returning, including communication by Web sites. That caveat was added after Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., stoked a controversy by posting real-time updates of his trip to Afghanistan and Iraq earlier this month to the free Web site twitter.com. Hoekstra is the senior minority member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Pingree said members were given “very strict orders not to talk about a country until we’re out of that country.”

“It is interesting, in an age of communication, our BlackBerrys work in the strangest places,” she said. “But it is what we do. We want to be in touch with our constituents all the time.”

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Comments
8 comments on this item
On 2/18/09 at 7:19 AM, 4truth wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

She most likely had to ride in armored cars to be protected from the troops.They aren't too keen on the 2 faced liberals who say they support the troops

but cast down everything that really supports them at home.What a waste of taxpayer money.Pingree should come back home and continue to do the ostrich liberal thing like keeping her head stuck in the sand.

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On 2/18/09 at 7:52 AM, RogerNamVet wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I have liberal leanings at times, actually marched with Veterans For Peace at one point, and I can only concur with my more conservative peers. What a bunch of B.S. on the part of the left wing Democrats (who I sometimes vote with).

Everything I see in Iraq and Afghanistan reminds me of the LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL (Vietnamization) when Nixon replaced LBJ, and Afghanistan looks like the Russians as their empire went bankrupt and troop levels/morale was impossible to maintain in the 1980s.

People never learn....the Roman Empire, the French Empire, the British Empire, the 1,000 year Third Reich, the Empire of the Rising Sun, and now our own empire, slowly collapsing around us.

Good luck!!!!! We all need it in our shortsighted, human behavior!

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On 2/18/09 at 7:54 AM, Bangorian wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I'd like to see the paper print a story about what it cost us to send Pingree to Iraq. I'm so sick of hearing about members of congress going over there for a propaganda driven tour of Baghdad. Honestly, what is there to be gained by having this woman visit Iraq? It seems that all she got out of the trip is that its a scary place, but her blackberry works there. How does that help us end that war?

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On 2/18/09 at 2:15 PM, mainbad wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Let's see, Pingree in Iraq. A liberal in Iraq. Hmmmm, she must be some nervous. I believe all US political personnel in Iraq are under the protection of State Department Security Personnel. Oh, whoops, that's right, that would be Blackwater! Or perhaps newly named XE. My, my, my, I wonder what would happen if the motorcade carrying Ms. Pingree came under fire and the XE personnel would have to return fire and get her out of the area? I wonder if the liberal representative would insist on going back to the area to "investgate" who fired at them. I am sure there would be ample time for the Terrs' to police up the weapons and brass, then insert the wailing women over the bodies to make the scene. I do know that her and Henry Waxman wouldn't hesitate to push for prosecution of guards who may have save their lives sometime. What's pathetic is people like her allow the enemy (Terrs') use our own system against us. The North Vietnamese were masters at using our own system and propaganda against us, and some of these Libs are too stupid to realize it and go along for the ride.

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On 2/18/09 at 5:47 PM, Saltoria wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Hmmmm...I don't kow ladyslipper. Bangorian usually leans so far to the left that I think he's going to fall over. Correct me if I'm wrong about that, but that memory resonates pretty clearly in my conservative head. But true enough, they know there is a distinct double standard and don't want to get held accountable. Their protests were made in too recent a past to think we might forget!

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On 2/19/09 at 2:43 PM, Saltoria wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Yes, ladyslipper, I read about that. Obama is doing A LOT of questionable things. But is it really any surprise? We all knew that he was coming from the hard left and would govern from that principle. Have you checked out the Drudge Report today? SCARY STUFF going on!! And most people will never hear about many of these things until lit is too late!

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On 2/19/09 at 3:41 PM, anne_of_mdi wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Ladyslipper, Saltoria, I heard that Obama has a secret plan called "Little Pink Houses" that will force the banks to forgive the loser mortgages of anyone who swears a loyalty oath to the socialist party. Also, people who are homeless right now will be given McMansions outright IF they swear loyalty. Even renters will be able to get in on the action. Plus, if you own your own home now and have no trouble making your mortgage payments, Obama is going to force the bank to double your mortgage payments to pay for it. If you try to default on your mortgage after the plan goes into effect, you'll be labeled an enemy combatant and rendered to a CIA black site in Syria. (Better start defaulting on your mortgage now just in case!) Just how long do you think it will take before the whole country turns socialist? The man is a genius!

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On 2/19/09 at 11:38 PM, cm1113 wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I am as much of a Democrat as the next guy, but if she isn't gonna help get our troops out of Iraq then I would like her to get out of Washington.

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