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Posted on 10/14/2003 9:59:52 PM PDT by Pan_Yans Wife
Nethercutt hails Iraq's recovery 'It is a better ... story than losing a couple of soldiers every day'
Rep. George Nethercutt said yesterday that Iraq's reconstruction is going better than is portrayed by the news media, citing his recent four-day trip to the country.
"The story of what we've done in the postwar period is remarkable," Nethercutt, R-Wash., told an audience of 65 at a noon meeting at the University of Washington's Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs.
"It is a better and more important story than losing a couple of soldiers every day."
He added that he did not want any more soldiers to be killed.
Nethercutt is a member of the House Appropriations Committee that approved President Bush's $87 billion request for military and reconstruction expenses in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dan Senor, an adviser to U.S. administrator for Iraq L. Paul Bremer, also spoke to the UW audience -- by phone. A traffic accident kept him from catching a plane in Washington, D.C.
Nethercutt and Senor highlighted the return of electricity to Iraq, which now has a higher megawatt output than it did before the war. Reconstruction has targeted schools and hospitals, and the Americans are spending 3,500 percent more on health care than Saddam Hussein did, Senor said.
He said the Iraq effort needs the financial support Bush has asked for from Congress.
"It gives us the tools to finish the job here," Senor said.
Nethercutt said the faster infrastructure rebuilding is completed, the faster the country can take care of itself and the United States can leave.
"So in five years or less, we're out of there," said Nethercutt, who plans to challenge Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., for her seat. "I'm as fiscally conservative as anyone can be ... but I think it is a smart investment for this country to make."
He said he has no doubt that weapons of mass destruction are in Iraq, have been in Iraq or that there was a program there to produce them. Many potential weapons sites are awaiting inspection from Americans, he said.
"That's not an excuse, just a reason. It's not surprising that we haven't found huge supplies of weapons," Nethercutt said, adding that what inspectors are looking for could fit in a space the size of a two-car garage.
During a question-and-answer session, some in the audience questioned the need for the United States to deal with the United Nations.
"I've had my moments where I felt the United Nations was counterproductive to its charter," Nethercutt said.
Aida Kouyoumjian, who grew up and attended school in Baghdad, told Nethercutt she was glad the United States did not rely totally on the U.N. for approval.
Another audience member, Dan Goldhaber, a professor in the public affairs school at the UW, asked Nethercutt for clear criteria for when the United States should get involved in other countries.
Nethercutt said Saddam Hussein provided a good model for threats the nation should confront with its pre-emptive policy. Terrorism attacks that can kill large numbers of people have made pre-emptive action necessary, he said.
"We can't counterpunch anymore," Nethercutt said.
P-I reporter Wyatt Buchanan can be reached at 206-448-8011 or wyattbuchanan@seattlepi.com
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"So in five years or less, we're out of there," said Nethercutt, who plans to challenge Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., for her seat. "I'm as fiscally conservative as anyone can be ... but I think it is a smart investment for this country to make."
Reps. on the warpath, going to the people, too!
Good day for the good guys in the PR war.
If you want on or off my Pro-Coalition ping list, please Freepmail me. Warning: it is a high volume ping list on good days. (Most days are good days).
THis couls have been said better - notice how the SPI picked right up on it?
Yeah, it made me cringe when I read it. I'm sure we'll see this quote coming back in the coming days/weeks to haunt him like the "building day care centers" will stick to Patty.
You just can't give sound bites like that.
Let's do hope.
Though he isn't a novice - he's been in the political game for awhile and should know better than to say something that the opposition could spin.
I'm not condemning him - I say a lot of stuff that can be mis-construed but then I'm not likely to run for public office;)
me too!!! I can only hope/wish he was slightly misquoted.
Bagdad Patty, Moron Murray, Murraymom, Talibon Patty, Patty bin Murray, Mom in Tennis Shoes (her first tag). and there are more!!!
Murray concluded the session by challenging the students to consider alternatives to war.
"We've got to ask, why is this man (Osama bin Laden) so popular around the world?," said Murray, who faces re-election in 2004. "Why are people so supportive of him in many countries ? that are riddled with poverty?
"He's been out in these countries for decades, building schools, building roads, building infrastructure, building day care facilities, building health care facilities, and the people are extremely grateful. We haven't done that.
"How would they look at us today if we had been there helping them with some of that rather than just being the people who are going to bomb in Iraq and go to Afghanistan?"
Murray said she doesn't know where she comes down on that guns-or-butter question, and building infrastructure in Third World countries would "cost a lot of money, and we have schools here and health care facilities here that are really hurting."
For all interested----the media gave Murray a pass. Her remarks were just shortly after Sen. Lott was ousted for his racial remarks.
Osama bin Laden's chief D.C. lobbyist
offers Saddam Hussein a staff position.
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