Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Ross part of congressional delegation to visit Iraq

Congressman Mike Ross recently visited with members of the Arkansas National Guard in Iraq.

He said there are pockets of stability, and a few areas are relatively safe, but there is a long way to go before the new government will be able to handle the police and military. So, meanwhile, American military men and women remain stationed in Iraq.

Ross made the trip with Marion Berry and Vic Snyder, also Arkansas congressmen. Sen. Mark Pryor, a member of the Senate Arms Committee, helped put the trip together, but a last-minute family emergency prevented him from going. Randy Massenelli represented Pryor's office on the trip.

While there Ross had the chance to visit with some of the Guard from Prescott, including Jackie Cottingham, Jeff Gober, Mike Fountain and Joe Hubbard. These men, he said, are part of the security force in Iraq, helping the new government there create what will be the first real democracy in the Middle East.

The men, he said, work different shifts and eat at different times, so he wasn't able to meet and talk with as many as he would have liked. Still, Ross met with several soldiers from Prescott. One of those he visited with is a duck hunting buddy, while another taught his children Sunday school and yet another taught in the Prescott school.

"It makes me proud to see local men serving their country," Ross said, "and help restore peace while aiding the new government to help create a democracy."

Ross and the others from Arkansas were only able to spend 10 hours in Iraq. They traveled to Jordan, then took a C-130 to Baghdad. While there, they spent about an hour talking with Iraqi officials about restoring trade between Iraq and Arkansas. Prior to the war, Arkansas supplied more rice to Iraq than any other state or nation. The delegation also met with Ambassador John Negroponte and his team as they work to create a new Iraqi government.

This left them nine hours to visit with soldiers. Ross kept an eye out for the Prescott soldiers, talking with them whenever possible.

The delegation had lunch at Camp Cooke with the men, then took a helicopter to Camp Warrior where the majority of the troops from Prescott were. They ate dinner with them, taking the opportunity to thank them for the job they're doing and their service to the nation.

Following dinner, the group went to Baghdad hospital where Ross presented the Purple Heart to two wounded soldiers. "It was a moving moment," he said.

At 8 p.m., the delegation boarded the plane and headed back to Jordan, stopping at a medical center in Germany where American soldiers are sent after being treated at the Baghdad hospital.

Ross said he learned more from the 10 hours he spent in Iraq than from the information from the Department of Defense in the last 18 months. "Washington needs to listen to the soldiers more," he said. "They know more about what's going on and what's needed."

According to Ross, America needs to do three things in order to get out of Iraq.

First, he said, the new government needs to be established as a true democracy where all religious and ethnic groups have a role and voice in what happens. "It's a new idea to them and difficult for a lot of them to understand. But a lot are ready to fight for the new country.

Secondly, the security forces need to be led by NATO, not the United States. The Iraqi citizens, he said, see this as a U.S. occupation, but if it were an international force, it would be easier to provide stability in the region.

"America and the world is better off with Saddam Hussein out of power," Ross said, "and other democracies should share in providing troops and the costs of getting a new government in place."

With NATO forces, he said, the American forces in Iraq could be reduced from 140,000 to 60,000, with there being no need of having the National Guard there. "The United Nations is in the business of nation building, America is not."

Third on the list, he said, is building Iraq's economy. Half the people there are unemployed, and many who help the insurrectionists bomb and try to kill American soldiers are doing it to help their families survive, not out of any kind of religious or political idealism. In fact, Ross said, some of the captured insurrectionists have been willing to inform on others because they consider killing for money beneath them and undignified.

What's being to rebuild Iraq, Ross said, is foreign corporations are getting the contracts and hiring non-Iraqi workers to do the building. If these companies would hire Iraqi nationals, it would stimulate the economy, give the Iraqi people a sense of ownership in the rebuilding and reduce or eliminate the hostage taking of foreign workers.

"The war was over 15 months ago," Ross said, "but many parts of Iraq only have electricity three hours out of 12 and don't have safe drinking water.

"It's a complicated issue and we won't be out of there soon. If we address the needs I've mentioned, we could get out sooner  in three to five years."

Ross said he doubts the U.S. will reinstate the draft to bring the military back to full strength. But, he added, the military needs to grow the number of troops it has by another 20,000 to 40,000. A lot of people want careers in the military.

While in Iraq Ross said he didn't hear any of the soldiers complaining about the conditions. "They all want to come home. Their housing is good, they have air conditioning and the food is OK. But they're putting their lives on the line. I hope the visit meant something to them, it certainly did to me."