Caption: RCPV Congressman Chris Shays visiting a school on the West Bank.
Read and comment on this story from NBC30 that RPCV Congressman Chris Shays says that that the military victory there could be "marred" if rebuilding that country is not made a top priority. He recently returned from a trip abroad to Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
During his trip Shays was the first Congressman to visit Iraq, crossing the border from Kuwait against the wishes of the Army and State Department. "We now have to win the peace in Iraq and that's going to be very difficult," Shays said. "If we fail to bring some stability to that area, then the whole effort will have been marred."
Nongovernment organizations such as Save the Children play a vital role in helping Iraq rebuild, Shays said. He complained during his trip that humanitarian aid wasn't getting to the Iraqi people fast enough. "Rebuilding Iraq is huge and you need to get the NGO's in there," Shays said. "I just think we need to be there and moving more quickly and more open arms to get the NGOs all throughout Iraq. We don't have a lot of time. The Iraqi people need to see they're in charge pretty soon." Read the story at:
POSTED: 9:07 a.m. EDT April 29, 2003 NORWALK, Conn. -- U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays, the first member of Congress to visit war-torn Iraq, said that the military victory there could be "marred" if rebuilding that country is not made a top priority.
Shays, R-Conn., bucked protests from the U.S. military and the State Department and traveled into Iraq on April 16 with a convoy of aid workers from the Westport-based charity Save the Children. He defended his right to see the situation firsthand, and said he was struck by the level of poverty, noting that there was no running water, few buildings and many children in the streets.
"We now have to win the peace in Iraq and that's going to be very difficult," Shays said. "If we fail to bring some stability to that area, then the whole effort will have been marred."
Nongovernment organizations such as Save the Children play a vital role in helping Iraq rebuild, Shays said. He complained during his trip that humanitarian aid wasn't getting to the Iraqi people fast enough.
"Rebuilding Iraq is huge and you need to get the NGO's in there," Shays said. "I just think we need to be there and moving more quickly and more open arms to get the NGOs all throughout Iraq. We don't have a lot of time. The Iraqi people need to see they're in charge pretty soon."
He praised the military for its success in Iraq and pointed out the important role women in the military played in winning the war. He also predicted U.S. forces will find evidence of weapons of mass destruction, but said it may take time. Following his journey into Iraq, Shays joined a congressional delegation that met with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas. It was the first high-level meeting between U.S. officials and Arafat since President Bush effectively boycotted him in June. The talks, however, were not sanctioned by the State Department.
Shays said the group also met with other Palestinians, including doctors, lawyers and students.
"Almost every school had a blown out building next to it," Shays said.
Wherever he went in the region, Arabs brought up the conditions that Palestinians live in and urged the United States to be fair in efforts to win a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, Shays said.
"We have to see major success in our effort between Israel and Palestine," Shays said.
Shays said that he was "somewhat disheartened" to hear reports from independent observers of abuses by Jewish settlers in Hebron. He also questioned Israeli security measures in Ramallah and suggested Israel was engaged in collective punishment. He described himself as a strong supporter of Israel and said that he met with Palestinians after some of his constituents asked if he had spent much time with Palestinians and he said he had not. Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Fiji; Congress; Iraq
