Ensign finds Iraq safer than on two other trips

WASHINGTON — Portions of Iraq once controlled by insurgents now appear safe and thriving, but it still is not possible to say how long U.S. troops should stay, Sen. John Ensign said Saturday from Baghdad.

Ensign said he was “much more optimistic about what is happening in Iraq” after hearing reports firsthand of military and political progress during the first day of a weekend visit with two other senators.

But he said Iraqi leaders remain fearful of the United States “pulling out too soon.” He could not tell after discussions with Iraqi and U.S. leaders what lies ahead.

In a conference call with Nevada reporters, Ensign said Iraqi leaders “don’t think it would be a good idea” for the United States to establish permanent military bases in the country.

On the other hand, Ensign said, “I cannot tell you how afraid they are of America pulling out too soon.

“If we leave right now, I am telling you that Iran will overrun this country,” he said. The Iraqis “are definitely afraid of that. If the United States pulls out, Iran will have a heyday in this country.”

President Bush has announced 20,000 troops would return home by this summer.

There have been reports that U.S. force commander Gen. David Petraeus may recommend “pausing” an undetermined time before additional soldiers are removed.

Ensign said “conditions on the ground” should dictate the pace of U.S. withdrawals.

Ensign is traveling with Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Jim DeMint, R-S.C.

They met with Petraeus and had dinner with U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker.

They also met with Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih and Iraqi National Security Adviser Mowaffaq ar-Rubaie.

“I strongly believe the American policy in Iraq should be that we have to make sure there is a stable Iraq,” Ensign said. “These people want to be our ally in the war against Islamic extremism.”

A supporter of Bush’s war strategy, Ensign credited a decrease in violence to counterinsurgency tactics made possible by the U.S. “surge” of 28,000 troops last year.

He said the Iraqi parliament is finally succeeding in passing political reforms such as a reconciliation strategy for former members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party, and a provincial powers act giving more authority to local governments.

Plus, the Nevada Republican said, there has been an “awakening” among Iraqis, Sunnis in particular, who have chosen to ally with U.S. military and local security forces.

Volunteers in groups like Sons of Iraq and Friends of Fallujah employ their own firearms and are paid $10 a day to help the U.S. coalition, Ensign said.

“The Iraqi people are rejecting the insurgency. They are rejecting al-Qaida,” Ensign said. “They are tired of that. They want economic prosperity. They are seeing the Americans are helping to do that along with the Iraqi government.”

The trip was Ensign’s third to Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003. He contrasted this visit with his first one in December 2003, on the weekend that Saddam Hussein was captured.

Then, Ensign’s route from Baghdad International Airport had to be altered after a bomb was discovered along the way. With security heightened, helicopters took jarring zigzags to their destinations. He departed Baghdad on a C-130 cargo plane that set off flares to avoid ground fire.

On Saturday, Ensign said the senators and five aides, accompanied by 20 to 25 soldiers, wore the required flak jackets but no helmets while walking through the marketplace of a town about a 25-minute helicopter flight south of Baghdad that had been controlled by al-Qaida several months ago.

“This was an area back in November, it was described as literally you would go down the street and see heads in the street from people who had been beheaded,” Ensign said.

“There were no shops, no schools, anything. Now we are seeing 90 little shops opened, and we literally walked down the streets. Three U.S. senators in the marketplace, that is how safe it is now. I was able to walk down the streets interacting with children and local merchants.

“That area is very typical of what we are seeing in the rest of Iraq since the surge began taking effect last August,” Ensign said. “Baghdad is much safer today.”

Following a second day in Baghdad, Ensign said the senators were headed to Afghanistan before returning to the United States on Tuesday.