Christopher Shays: “I have been in Iraq five times, and four of those times I have been outside the umbrella of the military as well as…”

“I have been in Iraq five times, and four of those times I have been outside the umbrella of the military as well as being under the umbrella of the military. I have talked to everyday Iraqis, attended a wedding, visited schools, hospitals, businesses, met with community and religious leaders, as well as visited the very poorest of the poor in their own homes, and slept in Iraqi villages. I cannot tell you how important June 30 is. There is not an Iraqi I spoke to who did not tell me they want this to be an Iraqi revolution, not an American revolution. They are eager to run their own country. Now, we have made some mistakes. It is clear that we should have prevented the looting. It is also clear to me we should not have disbanded the government, the army or the police. Certainly the bad folks within should have been taken out. So we have made some mistakes. When you speak to Iraqis, they will tell you they are suspicious of the United States because to them we are strangers. As good a Nation as we are, and as important as removing Saddam is, they never had a government they could trust. So why would they trust a foreign government to lead them for a year?”