Back to Iraq

Patrick Murphy left Iraq in 2004 as a captain in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division.  Last week, he returned as a freshman Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives (PA-08), visiting Afghanistan and other countries as well with a group of his colleagues. He did not like what he saw:

In Iraq, frustrated troops and senior officers said that the situation recalled the movie Groundhog Day - "the same thing happening over and over again as the Iraqi government provides little help," Murphy said. . . .

The Iraqis have failed to stop sabotage of fuel lines that could double oil exports, Murphy was told. Electrical service could be dramatically increased if Iraqi police stopped insurgents from pulling down power poles using chains and pickup trucks, he said.

Murphy said that everywhere he went, officials told him the United States should be engaged in talks with Iran about a political solution in Iraq.

He said he heard "nothing at all" to support the notion that troop morale was adversely affected by attempts in Congress to wind down the war.

And Afghanistan, sadly, was no better:

Military commanders in Afghanistan told the Iraq war veteran from Bucks County that they desperately needed more troops to deal with a resurgent Taliban. ...Murphy said, "they feel like the redheaded stepchild" - forgotten and ignored - as the original battleground in the war against terrorism.

U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill, commander of the 35,000-member NATO force in Afghanistan, told Murphy that he needed at least 1,500 more U.S. troops.

"We're not taking a thoughtful approach to Afghanistan," Murphy said. "We're taking our eye off the ball. We need to refocus our efforts there."

Military officials told Murphy that the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan was increasingly porous and that the Taliban was preparing for a spring offensive.

"I was shocked by their candor," Murphy said.

For what it's worth, Murphy opposes using the supplemental Iraq budget to restrict administration war options (the Murtha plan), stating, "I want to make sure you can't get money from a different pot, shift it over. Strategically, I want to make sure we don't get an end around by the White House."  Instead, along with Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA), he is a sponsor of the Iraq War De-Escalation Act of 2007, whose text you can read here.

One last note from a second article on the seven-country, seven day trip:

In Kuwait, a sergeant with the Maryland National Guard who has followed Murphy’s political career handed the congressman a three-page letter that said Murphy’s success in November’s election was "the first time that any of us felt hope again."