WASHINGTON — Rep. Mary Fallin returned Monday from a quick visit to Iraq and said additional U.S. troops and local anger about al-Qaida operations has turned around a central Iraqi town that used to be among the country's most dangerous.
Advertisement
Fallin, R-Oklahoma City, said she and other freshman lawmakers who made the weekend trip were able to walk down the streets of Ramadi, in the Anbar province. It wasn't long ago, she said, that the streets weren't safe.
"There's still a lot of work to do on the ground,” she told Oklahoma reporters in a conference call from Germany, where the congressional delegation stopped before returning to the United States.
Fallin met with soldiers from Tulsa in Ramadi and had dinner with some Oklahoma troops in Baghdad.
The morale of the troops was high, she said.
Among those who talked to the delegation were Gen. David Petraeus, commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan C. Crocker and Iraq's commander of ground troops.
Fallin said Petraeus was "upbeat and optimistic, although he acknowledged there are many challenges ahead.”
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
If morale and condition is so great over there, I think she should send all her kids over there to help rebuild Iraq. If she does that, I'll vote for her for president.
Fitness and Nutrition
Visit NewsOK's latest Know it and find out why proper diet and exercise are key.
More Info
U.S. Rep. Mary Fallin, R-Oklahoma City, poses with soldiers from Oklahoma on Saturday in Baghdad. Fallin gave the soldiers prayers and photos from children at churches in Oklahoma. BY LT. COL. JIM GARRISON, FOR THE OKLAHOMAN
1
Prev
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
Thank you for joining our conversations on newsok. We encourage your discussions but ask that you stay within the bounds of our terms and conditions. Please help us by reporting comments that violate these guidelines. To review our rules of engagement, go to Commenting and posting policy.
Log in below or sign up (it's free).