Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Anchorage Daily News
November 29, 2007
Pg. B1
On a radio show, he assesses the surge as a success.
By Erika Bolstad
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens is wrapping up a weeklong trip to Iraq, where he visited with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in the country.
Stevens made stops in Baghdad and Anbar province. He also met with deployed soldiers who are based at Anchorage's Fort Richardson, said Aaron Saunders, a spokesman for the Alaska Republican.
Stevens is on the trip with his close friend, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, who, like Stevens, is a World War II veteran. Inouye, 83, and Stevens, 84, oversee defense spending in the Senate.
This week's journey is Stevens' third trip to Iraq since the war began. The senator, citing security concerns, didn't announce that he was visiting Iraq until he was already out of the country.
But on Tuesday, he did call the Rick Rydell show on KENI-AM 650 in Anchorage to talk about his impressions of security in Iraq. At the time of the call, he was in Jordan, on his way from Iraq to Italy to see NATO installations.
Stevens told Rydell that based on what he saw on the ground he felt as though "the surge had worked" and that many of the troops participating in it "are now on their way home. They're going to go home."
"It was really an eye-opener to see some of the things they're doing now to move in and help establish the Iraqi police to take over and to move our people back and let the Iraqi army and police take over what's left of the insurgency," Stevens said.
Stevens also said he was surprised to learn of the role tribal allegiances play in Iraq.
"That's not a government, but it has a spiritual leader and tribal leader," Stevens said. "I really didn't realize how important the tribe concepts are here in Iraq, but the tribes are really enormous families, long-standing families."
Stevens said he left the country with the impression that reducing violence would help lead to more stable government, but cautioned that the conflict was far from over.
"This level of violence reduction really has brought back a confidence in the Iraqi people in the future of their own government," he said. "I'm not saying that the thing's over, (but) it's definitely on a downward trend."
Stevens is expected to return to the United States this weekend.
November 29, 2007
Pg. B1
On a radio show, he assesses the surge as a success.
By Erika Bolstad
WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens is wrapping up a weeklong trip to Iraq, where he visited with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. military commander in the country.
Stevens made stops in Baghdad and Anbar province. He also met with deployed soldiers who are based at Anchorage's Fort Richardson, said Aaron Saunders, a spokesman for the Alaska Republican.
Stevens is on the trip with his close friend, U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, who, like Stevens, is a World War II veteran. Inouye, 83, and Stevens, 84, oversee defense spending in the Senate.
This week's journey is Stevens' third trip to Iraq since the war began. The senator, citing security concerns, didn't announce that he was visiting Iraq until he was already out of the country.
But on Tuesday, he did call the Rick Rydell show on KENI-AM 650 in Anchorage to talk about his impressions of security in Iraq. At the time of the call, he was in Jordan, on his way from Iraq to Italy to see NATO installations.
Stevens told Rydell that based on what he saw on the ground he felt as though "the surge had worked" and that many of the troops participating in it "are now on their way home. They're going to go home."
"It was really an eye-opener to see some of the things they're doing now to move in and help establish the Iraqi police to take over and to move our people back and let the Iraqi army and police take over what's left of the insurgency," Stevens said.
Stevens also said he was surprised to learn of the role tribal allegiances play in Iraq.
"That's not a government, but it has a spiritual leader and tribal leader," Stevens said. "I really didn't realize how important the tribe concepts are here in Iraq, but the tribes are really enormous families, long-standing families."
Stevens said he left the country with the impression that reducing violence would help lead to more stable government, but cautioned that the conflict was far from over.
"This level of violence reduction really has brought back a confidence in the Iraqi people in the future of their own government," he said. "I'm not saying that the thing's over, (but) it's definitely on a downward trend."
Stevens is expected to return to the United States this weekend.
