Brady believes new proposal 'premature'

By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

U.S. Congressman Kevin Brady is calling legislation that would require President George W. Bush to dramatically narrow the mission of U.S. troops in Iraq "premature."

The legislation was drafted Friday, July 13 by Sens. John Warner and Richard Lugar and called for a bipartisan imprint on congressional disaffection with the war.

"These two senators are very well respected and their action is well intentioned but their meddling is damaging our chances for success in Iraq," Brady said.

The proposal states "give continuing high levels of violence in Iraq and few manifestations of political compromise among Iraq's factions, the optimal outcome in Iraq of a unified, pluralist, democratic government that is able to police itself, protect its borders, and achieve economic development is not likely to be achieved in the near future."

The Warner-Lugar proposal states "America military and diplomatic strategy in Iraq must adjust to the reality that sectarian factionalism is not likely to abate anytime soon and probably cannot be controlled from the top."

The senators are calling for Bush to draft a plan for U.S. troops that would keep them from "policing the civil strife or sectarian violence in Iraq" and focus them instead on protecting Iraq's borders, targeting terrorists and defending U.S. assets.

Brady said the proposal is premature because the surge troops have barely been in Iraq for a month now.

"It is terribly premature to say the surge has failed," Brady said. "I think it is for Al Quida encouraging to see Congress in such disarray. It is terribly discouraging for our troops to go out each day, fight for their lives and come back and hear all these so-called experts in Congress declare that the war is lost.

"I think rather than Congress playing repeated political games or coming up with a new plan every two weeks, that we would instead best serve our country and our troops by fully supporting them," Brady said.

Brady has planned a trip to Iraq to see the action first-hand. He is traveling to Iraq with several other members of Congress.

"We are going to see for ourselves what is happening on the ground," Brady said. "I hope to cut through the fog of the national media and hear the news unfiltered from our commanders and troops.

"I want a brutally honest assessment," Brady said. "I want to know from them if we are making progress and where are our challenges and what do our troops need to win this war."

Brady knows first-hand how the troops are being affected by the conflict in Congress over the war. His brother just returned from a military stay in Iraq and gave the congressman a report on the morale of the troops.

"Our troops are aware of the disarray in Washington," Brady said. "It is discouraging to them. It hurts their morale."