KSWO in Lawton is reporting on Coburns weekend visit to Iraq:
U.S. Senator Tom Coburn says the 3,000 National Guard troops from Oklahoma are fighting in the safest environment in Iraq in five years.
Coburn visited with the troops this weekend and was scheduled to stop
in Afghanistan today before returning to the U.S.
[...]
Coburn says reserve units should be deployed overseas, and not Guard
units.
Ben Fenwick, of the Tulsa World spoke with Coburn:
A chance visit to Iraq on Saturday and Sunday by Coburn, R-Okla., coincided with the beginning of de ployment by Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Brigade, the Thunderbirds, which will spend a year serving throughout Iraq.
Coburn had breakfast with Thunderbird commander Brig. Gen. Myles Deering and other members of the brigade's headquarters unit, and visited an area of recent fighting with soldiers in Oklahoma's active-duty military.
[...]
A longtime critic of the White House's deficits and spending policies, Coburn said the real cost of the war has only just begun. He said the administration misstepped from the beginning by choos ing to pay for the war in Iraq through deficit spending.
"We've run this war by borrowing money that our grandkids are going to have to pay back," Coburn said. "There is a consequence to that, and it's not just financial. The only people who you've asked to sacrifice in this war are the military and their families. No other American has sacrificed."
Coburn insisted, however, that the war is being won and that pulling out would be disastrous. He said candidates who demand a troop pullout will bring ruin to the gains made in Iraq.
Fenwick also quotes Coburn as saying:
The risk is unbelievable for us as a nation for our own security...We will fight this war again if we don't fight it now. I am absolutely convinced. The other thing I'm convinced of is we are going to win -- much more so do I believe that now than I did 18 months ago.
On his website, the Coburn's position on Iraq and the War on Terror is clearly stated:
...It is vitally important for us, when considering Iraq and the War on Terror, to remember who we are fighting and what is at stake. We have an obligation to future generations of Americans that we achieve victory in the War on Terror. The terrorists we are confronting today in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere would be on our doorstep if we retreat. It is better to confront and disrupt terrorists in far away lands rather than allowing them to once again launch attacks on us in our own cities.
Overall, the debate over troop levels in Iraq is not what matters — victory is what matters... (more)
It seems this most recent visit to Iraq has strongly validated that position for the U.S. Senator from Oklahoma.
Labels: Iraq War, Sen. Tom Coburn, War on Terror
Posted at 2/11/2008 11:17:00 AM
