ALLEN IN IRAQ: TALK CENTERS ON BEING GRATEFUL
Senator: No Mention of Alleged Civilian Massacre
By Sarah A. Reid
The Winchester Star
KUWAIT CITY - U.S. Sen. George F. Allen, R-Va., says no one mentioned the alleged massacre of about two dozen civilians by U.S. Marines during his trip to Iraq.

"All I have heard about our troops, whether it's been from their commanders, including Gen. (George W.) Casey, or whether it has been from the Sunnis, the Kurd, or Shiite leaders, is how grateful they are," the Republican said during a telephone interview Thursday from Kuwait.

Allen said those who are accused should be afforded due process, and if they are found guilty of the 2005 killing of about two dozen civilians near the Iraq town of Haditha, they should be punished.

"From my perspective, we have great troops," Allen said. "We ought to be grateful to them."
Allen and three U.S. representatives - Roy Blunt, R-Mo., Steny H. Hoyer, D-Md., and James E. Clyburn, D-S.C. - visited Iraq, Turkey, and Kuwait during a four-day trip that wrapped up Thursday.

While in Iraq, Allen said he visited the Kurdistan region and met with the regional government and prime minister.
"Gosh, they are doing great up there," he said about the northern region, which is seeing the building of housing and a convention center.

"All the factions up there are actually using their energy for something positive," he added, noting the relative safety in that area is prompting more investment. "... It is more difficult in the Baghdad area."

On Monday, CBS cameraman Paul Douglas and sound technician James Brolan were killed along with a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi interpreter when an explosive-packed car blew up in Baghdad, Bloomberg reported. CBS corespondent Kimberley Dozier was critically injured.

When Allen was in Baghdad he was required to wear a bulletproof vest and traveled in a car with "thick doors" and glass, he said.

When asked whether safety has increased for average citizens in Iraq, he said, "It depends on where you are, to be honest with you."

Allen said there are security problems in four of the 18 provinces located in Baghdad and in the central region of the country.

He said most of the terrorist attacks occur in those provinces, where al-Qaida and Baathist left over from Saddam Hussein's reign are located.

"Now that there are more and more Sunnis involved in the government and concentrated on change in a peaceful, political way, as opposed to using detonations and explosives and roadside bombs, there can still be progress," Allen said.

The first-term legislator said he sees a clear possibility that Iraq will construct a free and just society and that the United States is doing a good job assisting with that goal.

On Thursday, he met with Virginia troops, and said they were in good spirits despite sweltering conditions.
"They recognize that they are helping make history," Allen said. "I think they recognize that it is not easy, but they are doing their job. They are not complaining."

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