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| May 22nd, 2007 |
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Media Contact(s): Peter Carr (202) 224-9854,
Jared Whitley (202) 224-5251 |
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HATCH RETURNS FROM IRAQ WITH POSITIVE VIEW OF THE OVERALL SITUATION
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| While visiting Iraq, Sen. Hatch confers with (left to right) Gen. David Petraeus, Rep. Jane Harmon (D-Calif.), and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. Hatch is encouraged by the progress in security coalition forces have made in the year since his last trip. (May 2007) |
Washington - Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) recently returned from a trip to the Middle East, including a visit with leaders in Iraq. Regarding his trip, he today issued the following statement.
A lot has changed since I was last in Iraq. When I was there a year ago – the day the parliament was finally convened – there was a real sense that the security situation was slipping backward. I came back from this trip with a more positive view of the overall situation.
Let me give you an example. On Saturday, I had the opportunity to visit Ramadi. Six months ago, our forces in Ramadi described the time between when they went out on patrol and when they were attacked as the 45-minute rule. They said it generally took the enemy 15 minutes to determine where an American patrol was and then 30 minutes to organize an attack. Unfortunately, those attacks occurred with great frequency and severity.
But that was then. When I was in Ramadi on Saturday, I walked in one of its major markets in the heart of that city’s downtown. There, I saw what was unthinkable just a few months ago – shopkeepers selling their goods, children playing in the streets, and other signs of urban life.
I also visited Baghdad and was briefed by General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker as to the situation in that city. They’re implementing the new strategies and tactics that General Petraeus outlined before he took command in Iraq. And they are having success. We’re seeing measurable progress.
But what made a lasting impression on me was how closely General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker work together. It’s clear they’re finding ways to incorporate each other’s departmental strengths to succeed in Iraq. They want to defeat the insurgency and create an Iraq that will be able to independently secure its own future.
In all, the change that I witnessed, since my trip to Iraq last year, was substantial. That’s not to say that victory will be achieved tomorrow. I don’t imagine that the situation will be resolved by September, or any time soon after that. But I do see distinct, qualified success.
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