Inouye, other senators
plan to travel to Iraq
U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye wants a firsthand look at Iraq to assess what type of work and resources it will take to rebuild the war-torn country.
Inouye, D-Hawaii, and Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, are leading a group of senators on a trip to the Middle East, including a visit to Baghdad, next week.
"It's to meet the troops and see what sort of damage we're confronting because my assignment is on the appropriations committee," he said yesterday in a phone interview. "The rebuilding and reconstruction of Iraq and the establishment of a stable government (is) ... going to be a major challenge."
Although the United States rallied sparse international support for its attack on Iraq, Hawaii's senior senator said he hopes other nations will participate in bringing peace and stability to the country.
"I'm going to hope that the administration will call upon the world community to help rebuild Iraq. I don't see any enthusiastic invitation," said Inouye in response to President Bush's speech yesterday announcing the end of combat.
"I think it would be absolutely foolish to just walk out. Before we leave, I would hope we would have the world community working with us to restore and rebuild ... because that is expected of us," he said. Both he and Sen. Daniel Akaka were in the Senate minority voting against a resolution last year supporting the attack.
Hawaii military links and information