John McCain's visit to Iraq

[Azazello1313]

put in a little better context...

 

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Sen. John McCain visited a Baghdad market Sunday and later told reporters the American people were not getting the full story on what he said were improving security conditions in the war-ravaged capital.

 

McCain, a presidential hopeful, was among a delegation of Republican lawmakers that made an unannounced trip to Iraq this weekend, the details of which were withheld for security reasons.

 

Accompanied by a military escort, the delegation traveled in armored Humvees to Baghdad's main marketplace, which has seen numerous attacks in recent months, including a grenade attack in March.

 

After going to Shorja market -- where a triple car bombing in February killed 79 people and wounded 170 -- McCain told reporters at a Green Zone news conference that the recent surge of U.S. troops gives the military "a very good chance of bringing security."

 

"The American people are not getting the full picture of what's happening here. They are not getting the full picture of the drop in murders, the establishment of security outposts throughout the city, the situation in Anbar, the deployment of additional Iraqi brigades who are performing well and other signs of progress," he said.

 

McCain has said he backs President Bush's plan to deploy 25,000 troops to Baghdad and Anbar province in an effort to fight terrorism and sectarian violence in the regions.

 

While some of the troops have been deployed, the entire force will not hit the ground for four more months, White House counselor Dan Bartlett said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

 

In his Sunday remarks, McCain conceded that Baghdad is still dangerous, but said he believes the U.S. military has "a new strategy that is making progress."

 

The Arizona Republican, who is one of the war's most outspoken supporters, became testy when pressed about his recent remarks that there are areas of Baghdad where Americans can travel safely.

 

"I just came from one," he said, referring to his trip to the outdoor market, which required a heavy military escort. "I've been here many times over the years. Never have I been able to drive from the airport. Never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today."

 

McCain further emphasized that his previous remarks did not mean the fight to secure Baghdad was over, but rather, that "things are better and there are encouraging signs."

 

The senator was joined on the trip by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Reps. Rick Renzi of Arizona and Mike Pence of Indiana.

 

Graham, who was on his sixth trip to Iraq, said his past visits have required more security than Sunday's trip.

 

Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander there, was so confident in the security situation that he told the lawmakers they could remove their helmets "at our discretion," Pence said. They retained their body armor, he said.

 

"We moved and mingled among some of the warmest and most welcoming people that I've ever met on the face of the earth," Pence added.

 

 

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

u could say that about any mid east country....they all hate us!!!

 

 

flip flopper

[dmarc117]

flip flopper

 

 

 

quitter

[Azazello1313]

Maybe. I think the politicians like McCain and Bush continue to "cherry pick" the results in Iraq and point to the few areas like the north with the Kurds that are relatively quiet and safe and claim progress.

 

actually, they're pointing specifically to progress in baghdad and anbar province, which have been the biggest problem areas all along.

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

 

McCain Wrong on Iraq Security, Merchants Say

By KIRK SEMPLE

 

BAGHDAD, April 2 — A day after members of an American Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad’s central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, the merchants there were incredulous about the Americans’ conclusions.

 

Representative Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican, said the Shorja market was “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana.”

“What are they talking about?” Ali Jassim Faiyad, the owner of an electrical appliances shop in the market, said Monday. “The security procedures were abnormal!”

 

The delegation arrived at the market, which is called Shorja, on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees — the equivalent of an entire company — and attack helicopters circled overhead, a senior American military official in Baghdad said. The soldiers redirected traffic from the area and restricted access to the Americans, witnesses said, and sharpshooters were posted on the roofs. The congressmen wore bulletproof vests throughout their hourlong visit.

 

“They paralyzed the market when they came,” Mr. Faiyad said during an interview in his shop on Monday. “This was only for the media.”

 

He added, “This will not change anything.”

 

At a news conference shortly after their outing, Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, and his three Congressional colleagues described Shorja as a safe, bustling place full of hopeful and warmly welcoming Iraqis — “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime,” offered Representative Mike Pence, an Indiana Republican who was a member of the delegation.

 

But the market that the congressmen said they saw is fundamentally different from the market Iraqis know.

 

Merchants and customers say that a campaign by insurgents to attack Baghdad’s markets has put many shop owners out of business and forced radical changes in the way people shop. Shorja, the city’s oldest and largest market, set in a sprawling labyrinth of narrow streets and alleyways, has been bombed at least a half-dozen times since last summer.

 

At least 61 people were killed and many more wounded in a three-pronged attack there on Feb. 12 involving two vehicle bombs and a roadside bomb.

 

American and Iraqi security forces have tried to protect Shorja and other markets against car bombs by restricting vehicular traffic in some shopping areas and erecting blast walls around the markets’ perimeters. But those measures, while making the markets safer, have not made them safe.

 

In the latest large-scale attack on a Baghdad market, at least 60 people, most of them women and children, were killed last Thursday when a man wrapped in an explosives belt walked around such barriers into a crowded street market in the Shaab neighborhood and blew himself up.

 

In recent weeks, snipers hidden in Shorja’s bazaar have killed several people, merchants and the police say, and gunfights have erupted between militants and the Iraqi security forces in the area.

 

During their visit on Sunday, the Americans were buttonholed by merchants and customers who wanted to talk about how unsafe they felt and the urgent need for more security in the markets and throughout the city, witnesses said.

 

“They asked about our conditions, and we told them the situation was bad,” said Aboud Sharif Kadhoury, 63, who peddles prayer rugs at a sidewalk stand. He said he sold a small prayer rug worth less than $1 to a member of the Congressional delegation. (The official paid $20 and told Mr. Kadhoury to keep the change, the vendor said.)

 

Mr. Kadhoury said he lost more than $2,000 worth of merchandise in the triple bombing in February. “I was hit in the head and back with shrapnel,” he recalled.

 

Ali Youssef, 39, who sells glassware from a sidewalk stand down the block from Mr. Kadhoury, recalled: “Everybody complained to them. We told them we were harmed.”

 

He and other merchants used to keep their shops open until dusk, but with the dropoff in customers as a result of the attacks, and a nightly curfew, most shop owners close their businesses in the early afternoon.

 

“This area here is very dangerous,” continued Mr. Youssef, who lost his shop in the February attack. “They cannot secure it.”

 

But those conversations were not reflected in the congressmen’s comments at the news conference on Sunday.

 

Instead, the politicians spoke of strolling through the marketplace, haggling with merchants and drinking tea. “The most deeply moving thing for me was to mix and mingle unfettered,” Mr. Pence said.

 

Mr. McCain was asked about a comment he made on a radio program in which he said that he could walk freely through certain areas of Baghdad.

 

“I just came from one,” he replied sharply. “Things are better and there are encouraging signs.”

 

He added, “Never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today.”

 

Told about Mr. McCain’s assessment of the market, Abu Samer, a kitchenware and clothing wholesaler, scoffed: “He is just using this visit for publicity. He is just using it for himself. They’ll just take a photo of him at our market and they will just show it in the United States. He will win in America and we will have nothing.”

 

A Senate spokeswoman for Mr. McCain said he left Iraq on Monday and was unavailable for comment because he was traveling.

 

Several merchants said Monday that the Americans’ visit might have only made the market a more inviting target for insurgents.

 

“Every time the government announces anything — that the electricity is good or the water supply is good — the insurgents come to attack it immediately,” said Abu Samer, 49, who would give only his nickname out of concern for his safety.

 

But even though he was fearful of a revenge attack, he said, he could not afford to stay away from the market. This was his livelihood. “We can never anticipate when they will attack,” he said, his voice heavy with gloomy resignation. “This is not a new worry.”

 

Ahmad Fadam and Wisam A. Habeeb contributed reporting.

[Duchess Jack]

General Patrias "goes out there almost every day in an unarmored Humvee."

 

Sounds brash and shortsighted if true. Cowboylike - blatant disregard for for the time assests invested in training him and the role stratagist and leader he offers.

[skins]

Sounds brash and shortsighted if true. Cowboylike - blatant disregard for for the time assests invested in training him and the role stratagist and leader he offers.

 

 

Not true. He is always heavily protected.

[Yukon Cornelius]

u could say that about any mid east country....they all hate us!!!

 

they hate the cubs not us

[TimC]

When a Presidential candidate visits New York, Chicago, Detroit, LA, etc, do they take any security measures? Aren't these big cities supposed to be perfectly safe?

[Yukon Cornelius]

When a Presidential candidate visits New York, Chicago, Detroit, LA, etc, do they take any security measures? Aren't these big cities supposed to be perfectly safe?

 

[Furd]

When a Presidential candidate visits New York, Chicago, Detroit, LA, etc, do they take any security measures? Aren't these big cities supposed to be perfectly safe?

 

 

 

I understand that, upon visiting Detroit, presidential candidates are required to don body armor. They can wear a kevlar helmet "at their discretion."

[CaP'N GRuNGe]

When a Presidential candidate visits New York, Chicago, Detroit, LA, etc, do they take any security measures? Aren't these big cities supposed to be perfectly safe?

 

 

Well, I did hear Bush turned down the traditional throwing out of the first pitch to start opening day baseball. I think that was less to do with security and more to do with not wanting to be booed.