Carnahan Talks About Iraq Trip

U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan provided a mixed assessment of Iraq late last week, noting some progress even though major difficulties inflict the country’s government.

Carnahan, a St. Louis City Democrat who represents Oakville in Congress, visited Iraq last week with five other federal lawmakers. Speaking to reporters from Kuwait, Carnahan said Iraqis still have a long way to go before rectifying problems within its government.

“We got some very candid assessments of the ongoing problems with governance in Iraq,” said Carnahan, who is a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “While they have made some progress, they still have some major things to work out like the hydrocarbon law in terms of sharing revenues. [That’s] going to be critical for the country economically.”

Carnahan provided a bullish assessment of the Kurdish region of Iraq, which encompasses some of the northern part of the country. He said the area has petroleum reserves, “fertile lands” and an appetite with doing business with American companies.

“[They’ve] expressed genuine and repeated thanks to all of the American people that sacrificed to help [President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani] gain their freedom from so much oppression and violence that they’ve suffered for so many years,” Carnahan said. “They, I believe, can be an example particularly in their region to some of these emerging democratic governments around the Arab world.”  

CBS News reported that outgoing CIA Director Leon Panetta – who President Barack Obama nominated to be Secretary of Defense – told the Senate Armed Services Committee that al Qaeda still had a presence in Iraq.

"There are 1,000 al Qaeda that are still in Iraq," Panetta told the committee, according to CBS News. "We saw the attack that was just made the other day. It too continues to be a fragile situation."

Asked about that statement, Carnahan said “certainly people are aware of the news reports of Panetta’s comments.” Those included, according to the BBC, a request from the Iraqi government for the U.S. to keep troops in the country beyond the end of 2011.

“There was a sense of optimism that progress had been made,” Carnahan said. “And they were working very hard with all the parties in order to do the very best to meet these deadlines and make sure that they can stay on path to success. But that’s also measured against a sober reality that a lot of these things are complicated and difficult.”

Carnahan was also asked about U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s purported comments that Iraq should repay some of the costs of the conflict. According to CNN, the Republican congressman from California also sparked controversy when he told Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that a House Foreign Affairs Committee subcommittee would investigate the killing of Iranian exiles by Iraqi forces.

“It’s certainly my hope that there will be an opportunity for the Iraqi government to repay or continue to do business with the U.S. in ways that help us out economically,” Carnahan said. “We know they’re continuing to build up their economy to get their oil production back up to where it can be valuable like it’s been in years past. So I think there are opportunities. I understand there are several American companies that have been involved with doing business over there. We also have conversations with President Barzani of the Kurdish regional government that was very aggressively going after doing business with U.S. companies.”

“I would also point out that back in our own revolution, our fledgling democratic movement was financed primarily by France and specifically from Gen. Lafayette,” Carnahan added. “Later, Congress made an appropriation to at least partially pay him back for helping underwrite our own revolution. So there’s certainly a precedent for that sort of thing happening. But I think obviously Iraq is going to have to get on a more stable footing before those conversations can really have reality.”

In any case, Carnahan said many member of the U.S. military felt there was a “glimmer of light at the end of a long tunnel” that the long conflict was beginning to wind down.

“We’ve had a costly presence there, and certainly a lot of investment there,” Carnahan said. “And it’s important for the country and … for our economic security to have them succeed.”