Cole: Things are better in Iraq

WASHINGTON — Violence in Iraq is down, U.S. soldiers are upbeat, and the Sunnis are turning against al-Qaida, U.S. Congressman Tom Cole said Wednesday.

Cole, who returned from Iraq this week following a four-day Congressional fact finding mission, said the war-torn country is undergoing “remarkable changes.”

“It was an amazing trip,” he said. “And they’ve seen quite remarkable changes over the past year. Our group was the first group to go into Ramadi. No other group has been able to do that, it’s a genuine measure of the progress.”

Cole, R-Moore, said he traveled overseas to look at three areas: the logistics and movement of material and people in and out of Iraq; the quality of medical care and the medical installations; and the changes happening inside of the country.

The trip was Cole’s seventh visit to the country.

“I saw a lot of the country,” he said. “I talked to everyone from shopkeepers to Iraqi soldiers and I talked to many, many U.S. soldiers. And their moral is very high. They are great believers in their mission and they have confidence in General Petraeus as compared to a year ago.”

The biggest change, he said, was a reduction in violence.

“When I was there in 2004, I couldn’t go outside the Green Zone,’ said. “And we didn’t go into Ramadi.”

At that time Cole said, “you couldn’t go 10 feet in Ramadi without being hit by an IED (improvised explosive device) or small arms fire.”

And though the area is “still a dangerous place” for those soldiers stationed there, Cole said the number of U.S. causalities had dropped.

“It’s nice to see the violence decreasing,” he said. “When you can walk into places like Ramadi without armor, and you get outside the Green Zone, well, all those tell me things are getting better.”

Additionally, Cole said Sunni Muslims’ awakening “is a real thing.”

“They are sick of the violence and al-Qaida,” he said. “The Sunnis have realized they can work with us.”

Current estimates show about 35 percent of Iraq’s population is made up of Sunni Muslims. “And they have turned on al-Qaida,” he said.

Cole said the reduction in violence also has encouraged the country’s reconstruction efforts.

“I spoke with a military unit from Tulsa,” he said. “Their job is to help get civic services going again. And they are very popular. Things are changing.”

Yet while he remains optimistic about the war’s pace, Cole said the situation in Iraq is “still very fluid and very fragile.”

“Iraq can break your heart, but it’s still a very dangerous place. I can see the level of American involvement going down. But only if the Iraq people can take advantage of the situation.”