Brownback Visits Iraq

Brownback Visits Iraq

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback on Tuesday met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials to discuss United States policy in Iraq.

"The United States cannot sustain a war effort without broad public support, and we cannot count on such support unless the situation in Iraq improves and American casualties decrease," Brownback said.

Brownback also met with other Iraqi officials, including Deputy President Tariq al-Hashemi, Deputy President Adil Abd al-Mahdi, Minister of Defense Abdu Alqadir al-Ubaydi, and National Security Advisor Ahmed al-Rubaie.

Brownback continued, "I have long supported the freedom of the Iraqi people, and I want to see the Iraqi people succeed. While we cannot make a precipitous withdrawal, we can transfer more security responsibility to the Iraqis and reduce the threat to American troops."

Brownback also met with top U.S. officials, including U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Generals George Casey and Raymond Odierno. They discussed United States military options and the prospects for Iraqis to forge a political equilibrium and reduce sectarian violence in their country.

Brownback is traveling over the next couple of weeks to the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia to ascertain firsthand U.S. efforts in the War on Terror. Brownback will visit American troops and meet with high-level leaders and American representatives in Ethiopia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Senator Brownback is a member of the Appropriations Committee.

Brownback has written short observations about his trip, which can be viewed at http://brownback.senate.gov/english/samtravelsto-middleeast-africa-asia.htm.

http://brownback.senate.gov/pressapp/record.cfm?id=267384&&days=365&