Frist impressed with Iraq’s new prime minister

Frist, R-Tenn., made an unannounced trip to Iraq on Friday along with two other Republican senators, Robert Bennett of Utah and John Ensign of Nevada. They were the first members of Congress to meet with new Iraq Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

“He talks about a unified Iraq and doesn’t focus on tribalism. He think of the unity of Iraq,” Frist said Tuesday in a conference call with reporters. “It was a very positive meeting. He made it clear Iraq cannot succeed without the assistance of the United States and the international community.”

Frist and the other senators left Thursday for Kuwait City. They left there Friday and flew into Baghdad, where they spent the day. A similar trip was planned for several weeks earlier but was postponed because of security concerns, Frist said.

Frist left Baghdad for Normandy, France, to attend ceremonies for the 60th anniversary of D-Day on Sunday. He returned to the United States on Monday.

Despite a shooting or bombing at an Iraqi location almost daily, Frist said, “The majority of people around the rest of the country are living well, living comfortably in an improving situation, and are very hopeful.

“The news (in the United States) makes it sound like everything is falling apart there, and that is simply not the case.”

On Tuesday, car bombers in Baqouba, northeast of Baghdad, and Mosul in the northern region, killed 15 people, including a U.S. soldier, and wounded 50.

The senators wore bulletproof vests during their approximately 14 hours in Iraq and were escorted to each location by U.S. troops, Frist said. They were not able to visit the Abu Ghraib prison where Iraqi prisoners were allegedly abused.

In his briefing with Allawi, Frist said he learned that since last year the country’s unemployment rate had dropped to about 30 percent from 60 percent; inflation went from a 47-percent annual rate to 19 percent; 240 hospital are operating; 2,500 schools have been rehabilitated; 32,000 teachers have been trained, and 33 percent more people have telephone service compared to Saddam Hussein’s rule.

While in Kuwait City and Baghdad, Frist said he ate meals with soldiers from Tennessee. Their morale was good even though many of them have been in Iraq more than a year.

They mainly wanted to know when they could go home.

“They do not like this ‘indefinite.’ That was the only criticism,” Frist said. “They believe in what they’re fighting for. I was very impressed with that.”

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Information from: The Knoxville News Sentinel, http://www.knoxnews.com

Information from: The Tennessean, www.tennessean.com