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July 2, 2007

Sen. Reed to return to Iraq for 10th time

WASHINGTON – Sen. Jack Reed will make his tenth wartime tour of Iraq this week, seeking first-hand information on the effectiveness of the ``surge’’ of U.S. forces, initiated early this year by President Bush to improve security -- especially around Baghdad -- so that the struggling Iraqi government can move toward political stability.

Reed, a former Army officer, is a member of an unofficial Senate Democratic war council that is preparing a renewed effort to force the Bush administration to begin removing combat forces from Iraq. Reed and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, have announced plans to add troop withdrawal language to the 2008 defense authorization bill that the Senate will debate soon after Congress returns from this week’s Independence Day recess.

Mr. Bush vetoed such language when Congress attached it to a war-spending bill in May. Mr. Bush prevailed in the resulting confrontation last month, as Congress granted him a war-funds bill free of mandatory troop withdrawal deadlines. But Democrats in both houses of Congress vowed to continue their efforts to push the president toward a timetable for winding down the commitment of American fighting forces in Iraq. In recent weeks, key Republicans have added their voices to the growing call for a change of course in Iraq strategy.

Reed plans to attend the Bristol Fourth of July Parade and then depart for Iraq on July 5. As he has often done on previous trips to Iraq, Reed will travel with a single aide. Reed’s office, which has not released details of his itinerary, said he plans to return to the U.S. on July 9.

-- By John Mulligan, Journal Washington Bureau

Posted by Jack Perry  at 10:24 AM | Permalink

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Aldo | July 2, 2007 4:26 PM link

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