Barack Obama

Obama making 1st visit to Iraq

Thursday, January 5, 2006

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
By Jeff Zeleny

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Barack Obama, who has fiercely criticized the Bush administration's Iraq policy from afar, departed late Wednesday for his first tour of Iraq on the opening segment of a weeklong trip to the Middle East.

The Illinois Democrat, who is joining a congressional delegation led by Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), said he intended to ask U.S. military commanders for a "realistic framework" for reducing the number of American troops in Iraq.

"There have been hints by the administration about drawdowns of troop levels, but there hasn't been anything very definite," Obama said in an interview before he left Washington. "I don't know whether I'll get that or not, but that's what I'll be asking."

With the Senate on a winter break until Jan. 18, members of Congress are fanning out across the world on fact-finding missions that align with their particular interests. Obama chose the Middle East for his second foreign trip.

Obama, Bayh, Sen. Christopher Bond (R-Mo.) and Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) are scheduled to meet with U.S. troops this weekend in Baghdad before traveling to other parts of the country.

The trip comes less than a month after Iraq's parliamentary elections, which, said Obama, offer a crucial opportunity to assess "how optimistic people are about the capacity of the three major ethnic groups to forge some consensus."

The congressional trips, arranged by the military, also are designed to provide a morale boost to U.S. forces. More than a dozen troops, for example, have been selected to play basketball with Obama at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait.

After a two-day Iraq tour, Obama is to travel to Jordan and Israel on his own.

Three leaders of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago will accompany Obama on a portion of the trip, taking him to view a project launched with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago in the northern Israeli town of Fassouta. Federation officials said they urged Obama during his campaign to travel to Israel.

"It's so important for our elected officials to learn about this and to experience on a human level what life in a place like this is all about," said Michael Kotzin, executive vice president of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

Obama said he would talk to leaders from both sides of the Middle East conflict. He also intends to meet with Palestinian officials in the West Bank.

"I'm interested in seeing what kind of ideas both sides have in terms of moving the peace process forward," Obama said.