BELFAST, Maine — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Sunday she was impressed by the changes in Iraq since her last visit in late 2006 but noted that her delegation’s ambitious agenda in the Middle East underscores the challenges facing the region.
Collins, R-Maine, is among four senior members of the Senate Armed Services Committee who are visiting Iraq, Libya, Yemen and Afghanistan to meet with heads of state in each country. The other lawmakers on the trip are Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz.; Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn.; and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
In a phone call from Yemen on Sunday morning, Collins told the Bangor Daily News that she immediately noticed improvements on the ground in Iraq while flying over Baghdad in a helicopter. Collins said she saw “tremendous progress” compared with her last visit to Iraq in December 2006.
“There was such a difference between now and when I made that flight 2½ years ago,” Collins said. In 2006, “the streets were deserted, people were not outside, buildings were bombed out and there was evidence of explosions everywhere.”
“This time, you could see traffic out on the road, people were congregating outside of restaurants and shops and many of the buildings were repaired.”
The delegation met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill (a Bowdoin College graduate) and Gen. Raymond Odierno. The group discussed the situation since U.S. troops pulled out of cities at the end of June and turned over security control to Iraqi forces.
Collins also had dinner with six members of a Maine National Guard unit from Bangor who are stationed in Iraq. Collins’ office identified the servicemen and women as: Senior Airman John Chambers of Old Town, Staff Sgt. Stephanie Tracy of Bangor, Airman First Class Luc Marquis of Garland, Senior Airman Dwight Erving of St. Albans, Airman First Class Bill Bruns of Bangor, and Lt. Col. David Vashon of Waterville.
“That was wonderful to be able to see our National Guard members who are serving so courageously and so well in Iraq,” Collins said.
After their meeting with Iraq’s president, delegation members traveled to the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where they met with regional President Masoud Barzani and Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani to discuss escalating tensions between Iraq’s central government and Kurdistan. Collins said Sunday that she is more concerned about a conflict between Iraqis and Kurds than about a resumption of fighting between Shiites and Sunnis in the country.
While members of Congress frequently visit Iraq and the Middle East on official business, this delegation’s trip is notable for its weighty, jam-packed agenda.
Before visiting Iraq, the delegation met with Col. Moammar Gadhafi in Libya to discuss counterterrorism issues and the next steps his nation will take in scrapping its former weapons of mass destruction program.
The senators were in Yemen this weekend, where they were expected to meet with President Ali Abdullah Saleh and other officials. At the top of the delegation’s agenda is discussing the roughly 100 Yemeni nationals still being held in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Yemenis make up the largest percentage of militants still being held at the prison, which the Obama administration plans to close.
“It has been a real challenge to figure out what to do with them,” Collins said of the Yemeni prisoners. “Some of the Yemenis who have returned to this country … have rejoined al-Qaida, so that’s an issue we will be discussing with the president.”
The delegation is expected to wrap up its Mideast trip later this week with a stop in Afghanistan, where they are scheduled to meet with President Hamid Karzai. For security reasons, the delegation is not being specific about its travel plans in Afghanistan.
President Obama has increased the American troop presence significantly in Afghanistan in recent months.
At the same time, the Afghan government and people are preparing to go to the polls this Thursday to elect a president amid Taliban threats of violence against anyone who participates in the election.
More details about Collins’ trip to the Middle East and the Mainers she has met along the way can be found in her blog at http://senatorcollins.blogspot.com/