Shays is Optimistic About Iraqi Election After Trip to Iraq
By Mandy Kozar
WASHINGTON, Oct. 11-Republican Rep. Christopher Shays returned from his tenth trip to Iraq optimistic about Saturday’s Iraqi constitutional referendum and the progress of the Iraqi police and armed forces.
“My sense after speaking with [officials from the United Nations Mission for Iraq] and Iraqis in general is that if we’re able to provide real security, which we think we are, we’ll see upwards of 70 plus percent voting participation by Iraqis; it could even touch 80 percent,” Shays said in a conference call Tuesday.
Shays, chairman of the Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, was part of six-member bipartisan congressional delegation visiting Iraq in advance of the referendum.
“My prediction is that the constitutional referendum will be accepted,” Shays said, “It’s more likely to be accepted than not, but it still may fail.”
This is the tenth time since 2003 that Shays has visited the country, visits that he said allow him to view the situation for himself so he does not have to rely on other sources.
“I was wrong about weapons of mass destruction, and that took a bit of my confidence away,” Shays said. “That was one of the reasons that I was determined that I would not be in Washington, that I would go out into the field.”
For the constitution to fail, it has to be rejected by two-thirds of the voters in three of Iraq’s 18 provinces. The entire process would then start over, beginning with formation of a new government.
According to Shays, the central factor will be the participation of Sunni Iraqis in the vote.
“The key is to make sure that in the Sunni areas the Sunnis feel comfortable voting,” Shays said=. “That’s going to be a key issue.”
If it does not pass, however, that does not mean the entire process will have failed, he said. High voter turnout, pass or fail, would show that the democratic process is working, he added.
Shays also said that during his trip he was impressed with the progress the Iraqi military is making, a view that he said he does not see reflected in the American press.
“I’m getting this from the commanders, the sergeants and the rank-and-file troops,” Shays said, “These Iraqis are beginning to show a tremendous amount of skill and pride and professionalism. That’s what I’m hearing in Iraq. I don’t hear it in the United States.”
“I’m disappointed that some of my colleagues that don’t get to go to Iraq speak with such conviction about what they’re seeing, and what I see there is very different from what I read in the press,” Shays said. “My constituents have a very different view of what’s going on and what I am seeing.”
Shays said he is worried that what he sees as misinformation may cause a push for an exit strategy that he believes the Iraqis are not ready for.
“We’ll see the terrorists lasting longer because of our leaving maybe too soon,” Shays said. “My biggest concern is that we’ll leave too soon.”
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