Two members of the Arizona congressional delegation will travel to Iraq
next month to get a firsthand glimpse of the U.S. reconstruction effort.
Rep. Jim Kolbe and Sen. John McCain, both Republicans, will spend three
days touring Iraq as part of a trip that also will include a swing
through Afghanistan.
Kolbe, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees
foreign aid, said viewing conditions in Iraq will allow him to establish
a "baseline" from which to measure the success of the operation.
"My subcommittee has to fund this," he told the editorial board of the
Arizona Daily Star on Tuesday.
Kolbe faulted the Bush administration for failing to give as much
thought to the aftermath of the war as its execution.
He said it now appears that neither the guerrilla-type resistance
confronting American troops nor the extent of Iraqi infrastructure needs
was anticipated.
"Everything is just rusted and coming apart," he said.
Considering the scope of the job, Kolbe doubted whether the $2.3 billion
the administration set aside for reconstruction would be adequate.
"They have underestimated the costs," he said. "I think they are kidding
themselves about this. The president does not have anything in the '04
budget for Iraq reconstruction."
Although the itinerary of the trip has not been set, Kolbe said he
expects the lawmakers to stay in Kuwait and make day trips to Baghdad,
Basra and Kirkuk.
"I want to see what we've accomplished in Basra in the south and compare
that to the security situation in Baghdad, and see what we're actually
accomplishing there, both in terms of the political situation and in
terms of the physical reconstruction that's going on, and do that also
in the north," Kolbe said.
Kolbe doubted whether the delegation would be allowed to "get out and
wander in the streets," but said he hopes to get a feel "for what's
open, what's functioning, what's in the marketplace."
Andrea Jones, a spokeswoman for McCain, said the senator will also make
separate stops in Israel, Turkey, Cyprus and Pakistan.
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