Sen. Reed visits Iraq, Afghanistan with Obama

PROVIDENCE – U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) returned to Washington, D.C., July 23, after traveling with U.S. Senators Barack Obama and Chuck Hagel to Afghanistan and Iraq.

Reed, who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential candidate on the Democratic ticket with Sen. Obama, led the congressional delegation.

Following the visits to Iraq and Afghanistan, Sen. Obama continued on to Jordan and Israel, before traveling to Europe.

In meetings with Israeli leaders July 23, Obama reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s struggle against terrorism and other violent threats, including Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“I don’t think any country would find it acceptable to have missiles raining down on its citizens,” Obama said during a stop at the police station in Sderot, the Israeli city that has been deluged by rocket fire from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

“If someone was sending rockets on my house where my daughters were sleeping at night, I would do everything to stop it, and I encourage Israel to do same,” added the U.S. senator from Illinois, speaking in front of shelves filled with mangled Kassam rockets fired by Palestinian militants.

In Jerusalem, Obama met with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, President Shimon Peres and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu. Obama also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, where he donned a white kippah and penned an entry in the visitors’ book.

“At a time of great peril and torment, war and strife, we are blessed to have such a powerful reminder of man’s potential for great evil, but also our capacity to rise up from tragedy and remake our world,” Obama wrote.

The Democratic candidate then went to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. P.A. officials said Abbas briefed Obama on progress in the peace process.

Congressional Delegation

In meetings in Basra and Badhdad, the Senators met with U.S. troops; Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki; President Jalal Talabani; Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi; and Vice President Adil Abdulmahdi.

They also received a detailed briefing from and consulted extensively with U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus, Commander, MNF Iraq. They visited with doctors, nurses and patients at the 86th Combat Support Hospital and took part in a helicopter over-flight of Baghdad conducted by General Petraeus.

In a joint statement, the three Senators said: “We came to consult with our military leaders, embassy team and the Iraqi government about a way forward in Iraq that advances the interests of the United States, Iraq and the entire region.”

The Senators went on to say that they found a “strong, emerging consensus” on a number of critical points:

• Violence in Iraq is down significantly;

• Political progress, reconciliation and economic development continue to lag; and

• The Iraqis want a timeline, with a clear date, for the redeployment of American combat forces.

“America has a strategic opportunity to build a new kind of partnership with Iraq and to refocus our foreign policy on the many other pressing challenges around the world – starting with the resurgence of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the Senators said.

Earlier, following visits to Kuwait and Afghanistan, the Senators issued a joint statement from Kabul.

“We’re in Afghanistan because this is the central front in the war on terrorism. Those who actually attacked us on Sept. 11 reside in the badlands between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They have regrouped and they are getting stronger, as we saw yesterday with attacks throughout Afghanistan.”

Compiled with reports from JTA