Back to Iraq

As I begin writing this week’s blog, I just got off an Army Blackhawk helicopter in Baghdad, Iraq, and I’m now on a State Department plane over Iraq heading from Baghdad to Kirkuk in Northern Iraq.  Unfortunately, yesterday in a series of coordinated car bombings, 29 people were killed and 90 wounded in Kirkuk. 

In my capacity as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee on the Middle East and South Asia, I’m leading a six person CODEL (Congressional Delegation) which consists of three members of Congress, Congresswoman Karen Bass (Dem. Cal.), Congressman William Huizenga (Rep. Mich.), myself, two Foreign Affairs Committee senior staffers, and an Army Colonel who is coordinating logistics for the CODEL.

We spent the first day of the trip in Kuwait.  That’s the oil-rich country that Saddam Hussein invaded back in 1990.  The United States under President George H. W. Bush (Bush 41) and our allies in Operation Desert Shield, and then in Desert Sword, successfully ejected Iraqi forces from Kuwait in approximately 100 hours.  Some would argue that we made a big mistake by not going all the way to Baghdad and getting rid of Saddam when we had the chance, and thus avoided the second Gulf War under a second Bush presidency which we’re now in the process of more or less wrapping up.

Anyway, things in Kuwait are going reasonably well.  They are considered a strong ally of the United States.  And we use Kuwait as a major military base to get our troops, equipment, and other necessities in and out of regional conflicts (Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.)  Also, approximately one out of every ten barrels of the world’s known oil is contained under the sands of Kuwait, and American companies play a key role in drilling for and refining that oil, which ends up in your and my gas tank in the United States, and around the world.  An interesting (somewhat bizarre) side note: the day before we arrived in Kuwait, Sunni and Shia Kuwaiti Parliamentarians ended up in a fistfight on the floor of the Parliament.  (And we think Republicans and Democrats in Congress are bad!) 

Now back to Iraq, where we spent two days.  This was my third trip to Iraq.  My first was back in 2002, early in the war.  Saddam had just fallen, and the insurgency, civil war, (whatever terminology you prefer) was just getting off the ground.  My second time in Iraq was in 2007, shortly after the surge broke the back of the insurgency.

I must say that things in Iraq are better than they have been in a long time.  Whereas we once had 170,000 troops on the ground, we’re now down to 47,000.  In full disclosure it should be noted that there are still approximately 50,000 American security-type contractors, (some would call them mercenaries), helping to keep the peace in Iraq.

The Obama Administration has said that they intend to reduce this 47,000 down to 157 (yes that’s 157 with no 0’s behind it), by the end of this year.  Whereas we are continuing to make progress in training the Iraqis so we can ultimately turn the country over to them and pull out, I think it’s unrealistic to think that we’ll be down to 157 troops seven months from now.  But we’ll see. 

While in Iraq we met with the United States Ambassador James Jeffrey, our top Generals, many of the troops on the ground, some of our coalition partners, and Iraqis in various capacities (soldiers, police, Parliamentarians, etc.) 

Next, Saudi Arabia.  First, a few facts about this important Middle Eastern country.  They have a population less than 10% of the U.S., but as everyone knows, a lot of oil; in fact 25% of the world’s known reserves.  The two most sacred Muslim sites are there – Mecca and Medina, and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud’s formal title is Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.  Unless you are a Muslim, it is forbidden to visit either city.  Muslims are required, if they are financially able to do so, to visit Mecca at least once during their lifetime (the Hajj).  The Saudi population is about 85% Sunni, 15% Shia.  Conflicts between these two branches of Islam have resulted in much of the violence in Iraq and throughout the Middle East. 

During our meetings with various high level Saudi Arabian officials, we emphasized the importance of their increasing oil production in order to bring down the price of gasoline (and other petroleum-related products) in order to avoid a double-dip world recession.  I believe that one of the main reasons the economic recovery in the United States has been so slow in coming (and therefore unemployment has remained so high) is the negative impact high energy costs are having on consumers and the overall economy. 

Saudi Arabia has been producing approximately 10 million barrels of crude oil per day (up from about 9.5), but they have the ability to produce as much as 12.5 million.  They’ve been reluctant to do so, and I believe the U.S. should use every bit of influence (persuasion, pressure) available to us to encourage them to ramp up production.  They say they don’t like the current high prices either, but I don’t buy it. 

Because Saudi Arabia has so much wealth, they are extremely influential in the Arab world and are quite generous in aiding other Arab nations.  They consider Iran to be their most dangerous rival, and feel that they are being surrounded by Iranian-supported terrorist organizations and Iranian influence.  However, as in most (if not all) other Muslim Middle Eastern countries, they save their harshest criticism for Israel.  It’s visceral. 

I’m back in Washington at this point in writing this week’s blog, and I’ve just attended Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United States Congress.  In my humble opinion – an exceptional speech.  Israel continues to be our strongest and most important ally in the Middle East, and in my view, they are fortunate to have a leader like Netanyahu in these challenging times.  Although surrounded by hostile countries, Israel has succeeded in not only surviving, but thriving.  They are a democracy in a part of the world where there are few others.  Hopefully Egypt will follow their example, but it’s still too early to tell.

What happens in the Middle East will continue to affect us, confound us, infuriate us, exasperate us, and if we’re lucky, pleasantly surprise us in the years to come.  As Chairman of the Committee in Congress that has responsibility for that important part of the world, I’ll keep you informed, and I welcome your advice and input at any time. 

 CODEL in Iraq

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