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Ranchers.net

WASHINGTON — Iraq war veterans from across the country carried a message Tuesday to Capitol Hill — don't pull the troops out until the mission is over.

Among the group was Carl Hartmann, a Marine corporal who has completed three Iraq tours of duty and now serves with a Reserve unit in Omaha.

Hartmann said politicians should not be micromanaging the war but listening to the commanders in the field.

"I'm not going to tell a brain surgeon how he should operate on one of his patients," he said. "I'm going to take his word for it when he tells me that he has to operate this way to make me feel better."

Hartmann and other Nebraskans joined hundreds of members of Vets for Freedom who descended on Capitol Hill as Congress heard testimony from Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker. The two reported uneven but significant progress in Iraq, an assessment that was greeted with skepticism by several Midlands lawmakers.

Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., for example, pressed Crocker during his appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Hagel said, "We're going to continue to see a bloody Iraq," ricocheting from one crisis to another, and questioned the seriousness of the Bush administration's diplomatic efforts.

Crocker pointed to diplomatic meetings at which Iraq's neighbors have discussed issues such as refugees and border security.

"There is activity," Crocker said. "Does there need to be more activity on the part of the region? Clearly, yes."

Crocker and Petraeus also testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, on which Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., serves.

Nelson has proposed requiring Iraq to pay back any money spent by the United States on Iraqi reconstruction. He asked Crocker why the U.S. shouldn't immediately start a tab for repayment.

Said Crocker: "There is very much an interest in moving the financing from us to the Iraqis," and the United States has already largely gotten out of the reconstruction business in Iraq.

When Nelson pointed to specific spending, Crocker said that was for aid programs important to stabilizing the country.

Nelson responded sharply. He said he wants the United States to look at requiring Iraq to repay the U.S. for all sorts of reconstruction services, including the training of Iraqi troops.

Nelson said he continues to support a transition of the U.S. mission in Iraq from providing security to patrolling the border and chasing down terrorists.

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said Petraeus and Crocker were serving up more of the same Tuesday.

"The simple truth is that keeping our brave soldiers mired in the Iraqi civil war is breaking our military, bankrupting our Treasury and making our country less safe," Harkin said.

Hartmann and the other veterans urged lawmakers to be patient. They said progress was being made.

Hartmann recalled a January 2006 incident in which his unit was helping to sign up Iraqis for army and police forces. A recruiting station had been established at a factory in Ramadi when a suicide bomber hit the area where the recruits were.

Many were killed or wounded, Hartmann said, but the Iraqis insisted on reopening the recruiting station within a few weeks. When it did reopen, he said, twice as many recruits showed up as before the bombing.

"Al-Qaida wanted to destroy their spirit," he said, "but it had the exact opposite effect, and that in turn inspired us."

Armed with such anecdotes, the veterans worked the halls of Congress all day. They highlighted their positive experiences and progress made by Iraqi security forces.

Hartmann said the American people and Congress need to have patience and trust the military to get the job done in Iraq.

"It's a slow process, but it's working," he said. "This is something you can't rush."

Petraeus and Crocker will testify today before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R-Neb., a member of that committee, said he was pleased to hear of progress in Iraq.
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