CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait " Senator Barack Obama is spending the first part of the New Year visiting servicemembers in the Middle East.
The Illinois senator spent Jan. 6 in Kuwait, the second stop on his whirlwind tour. He said his visit to the region is two-fold.
"I've got a lot of troops from Illinois â?¦ and we wanted to come and communicate how much we appreciate their service to the country and the outstanding work that's being done," Obama said, adding that he feels it is imperative to see for himself what's going on in the theater.
"As a U.S. senator who's on the Foreign Relations Committee, it's also important for me to get some first-hand knowledge of what's taking place here," he explained. He said this trip gives him a chance to talk directly to the people who are on the ground to gain their insight and get their input to take back to Washington, D.C.
The senator also said he thinks this trip will be helpful because it gives him something to refer back to when he's on the Senate floor discussing issues.
"There is serious debate in Washington (and) throughout the country about how we should move forward in Iraq," Obama said. "But I think it's really important for the troops to understand that nobody questions the outstanding job that the troops have been doing and executing."
He reiterated that the political debates are about the nature of the mission and that there's never any doubt as to how well troops are performing.
Obama said he was glad to see that the morale of servicemembers remains high. He helped improve that morale when he played basketball with about a dozen Soldiers, playing a 20-minute half with each team. Unfortunately, the other team always won.
The senator ended his day at Arifjan at a dinner with Soldiers from Illinois, where he listened to their concerns and talked with them about their families and their wellbeing in general.
"I was really impressed with his visit," said Spc. Debralee Crankshaw of Belleville, Ill. "I saw him twice during the visit, and the second time I saw him he actually remembered where I was from and what I told him about my family. "He was very personable and seemed to genuinely care."
Obama's next stop was Iraq, followed by a trip to Jordan.
| Date Taken: | 01.08.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 01.08.2006 17:18 |
| Story ID: | 5002 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Web Views: | 119 |
| Downloads: | 36 |
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