Steve Pearce: “I can tell you that every single troop I visited with, both from New Mexico and from outside New Mexico, they all…”

“I can tell you that every single troop I visited with, both from New Mexico and from outside New Mexico, they all believed in what they were doing, they were highly motivated, well trained and doing great work. Their one comment was, ``Why do the people in America not find out the good things we are doing?'' I cannot tell them why the news will not cover the good things that are going on in Iraq, the very positive rebuilding efforts, the winning over of the hearts and minds of the Iraqi people, but I can tell you that those soldiers know about it. They see firsthand that people in the neighborhoods who have been told their entire lives, for 35 years under Saddam Hussein, that Americans are evil and will be coming there to hurt them, and as the Iraqis find that not to be true, they bring their kids out in the streets and hold them up to see the Americans eyeball-to-eyeball, and that is touching the lives of the young men and women from New Mexico serving there. I compliment our troops for the fine job that they are doing.”