Frank Lautenberg: “I wish to talk about a trip I took last week to the Middle East. I was privileged to travel with a group of colleagues…”

“I wish to talk about a trip I took last week to the Middle East. I was privileged to travel with a group of colleagues to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, and Qatar. I will discuss it in two parts. One part is what we saw happening in Iraq and the apprehension, the concerns we all had with the confusion, the chaos that exists there, the continued loss of life among our troops, and the inability to cope with a relatively new form or a new mode of warfare where remote bombs are set off by people who are some distance away from the place of the explosion, seeing a target they particularly want to get to, and the prospect that will continue to be an ever-increasing part of the mechanism of war. It is so tough to fight against that kind of weaponry, that kind of a remote attack. The people are courageous. They are dedicated. I had a chance to meet with some of our troops. I particularly met with a group from New Jersey. I got the same impression from all with whom I met. These are people who really want to do the right thing. They are not mercenaries. They are there because of the obligation they feel toward resurrecting or helping the revitalizing of Iraq and turning over to them their own responsibilities for governing. Our people are young. Frankly, even though I served in World War II and was myself young--I was 18 when I enlisted--our military personnel today look different. They seem to be more educated.…”