The Dog, The Pony And The Exception

Our guest-post today is by Jay McDonough. Jay posts daily at his excellent Swimming Freestyle blog, which we heartily recommend.

Since the Right apparently believes they have a winner in pressuring Barack Obama to visit Iraq, a look at the value of Congressional visits to Iraq seems in order.  CNN Baghdad correspondent, Michael Ware, was interviewed yesterday about the level of exposure American politicians receive when in Iraq:

�Senator McCain has been here, what, more than half a dozen times,� Ware said. �And we�ve seen him get assessments of Iraq terribly wrong. So I wouldn�t be hanging my hat on the fact that your opponent has only been here once.

�And let�s not forget what do American officials get to see? Well, they get to see the rooftops of a lot of Iraqi houses as they chopper over them or across vast expanses of desert. They get to see rooms in the inside of U.S. bases in the Green Zone, both of which are divorced from reality. And they�ll get inundated with military briefings.

�Now, in these briefings, in the past, officials have been told the insurgency was in its death throes, there was no civil war, that Iranian influence wasn�t that big a problem, that Al Qaeda had been defeated. I mean, you really aren�t going to get much of a real picture. It�s almost by definition impossible.

�And General Petraeus, the commander in the war here, doesn�t pull any punches. So you almost could gain as much from having a private chat with him when he was last on Capitol Hill.� (Link)

Now, there are American politicians who attempt to experience more than the briefings and demonstrations arranged by the Pentagon.  Case in point, Senator Jack Reed.  What, you haven't heard about Senator Reed's visits to Iraq?  I wonder why Senator McCain's visits are so much more publicized than Senator Reed's.  (As of last summer, Senator Reed had made ten trips to Iraq compared with Senator McCain's six.   Now, per the McCain "more visits equals more credibility" rationale, it seems we should be listening to Senator Reed's advice alot more so than Senator McCain's.  Senator Reed, a West Point graduate and former company commander in the 82nd Airborne, believes it's time to come home).

From Senator Reed's website:

Senator Reed voted against giving President Bush the authority to go to war in Iraq because it was an ill-planned diversion from the war on terrorism. Along with Senator Levin of Michigan, Senator Reed is the co-author of a plan to refocus the mission and begin the phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq.

Senator Reed is, apparently, well known for making his visits difficult for his hosts.  He routinely chooses to travel outside the Green Zone, meeting with American troops spread throughout Iraq.  An example of an Iraq Trip Report by Senator Reed can be found here.

I was unable to find similar trip reports penned by Senator McCain, but I did find this about his last visit to Iraq in March:

The U.S. Embassy, citing security concerns, has not released McCain's itinerary, but he is expected to meet with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq and author of the "surge" strategy backed by McCain, as well as with some Iraqi officials. But by entering Iraq unannounced, staying about a day, and leaving before many Iraqis will even know he was there, chances are slim that the Arizona Senator will learn much he didn't already know. (Link)

As I said yesterday, certainly trips to Iraq can be useful and informative.  Or not.