Case gets firsthand
look at efforts in Iraq
Getting his first glimpse of Baghdad since the war in Iraq began, U.S. Rep. Ed Case said he was struck most by how life goes on in the capital city.
"People are on the streets, cars are on the streets, people are on the sides of the street selling their wares," Case said yesterday by conference call from Kuwait. "You can certainly see the damage from the war, but most of Baghdad is there."
Case, D-Hawaii, is traveling in the Middle East as part of a six-member congressional delegation to review U.S. military and reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
After arriving in Kuwait on Thursday, the delegation flew to an airport outside of Baghdad before boarding Black Hawk helicopters into the city yesterday.
The delegation traveled to the headquarters of the Coalition Provisional Authority at the former Republican Guard Palace before moving on to a prison and then to the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division, Case said.
Case said one of the highlights of his day was the chance to meet with a handful of soldiers from Hawaii.
"We talked story about the home front," he said, adding that one soldier showed him a care package that included a can of Spam. "Hawaii is very well represented here, and I really found them to be remarkable and upbeat, considering what they have been through."
Among the officials who addressed the delegation yesterday was L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. civilian administrator in Iraq.
Case said Bremer briefed the lawmakers on the coalition's five main goals for Iraq: security, re-establish infrastructure such as electricity and water, re-establish an economy, inform the Iraqi people of its mission and establish a political infrastructure.
Case said he was disappointed that, for security reasons, the group was unable to meet with and interact with everyday people.
Elsewhere yesterday, two Iraqis were killed, and 17 others and two U.S. soldiers were reported wounded when a dispute over a marketplace exploded into anti-American fury.
A bomb exploded yesterday morning near an 82nd Airborne Division patrol outside Khaldiyah, west of Baghdad, killing one soldier and wounding four others, the U.S. military reported.
In Fallujah, also west of Baghdad and a center of the anti-U.S. resistance, an explosion and fire struck the office of the mayor, who has cooperated with the U.S. occupation. In a melee that followed, one Iraqi was killed.
Meanwhile, leaflets and rumored warnings called for a "Day of Resistance" today at the start of a three-day general strike to protest U.S. occupation.
Case said he was aware of the dangers before he left on the trip, but added that it would not deter the delegation.
"I think every day is a dangerous day or a day of potential attack," he said.
The delegation is expected to spend another three to four days in Iraq before heading home, Case said.
