**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                               
                      **

**January 29, 2004**

**CONTACT: MARTIN GREEN**

**(202) 225-4436**

** **

**SOUDER REPORTS FROM IRAQ**

** **

*U.S. Rep. Mark Souder released the following statement after completing
his second day in Iraq:*

 

\"During the Iraq portion of my trip, our congressional delegation
stayed in Kuwait City and flew aboard a C-130 Hercules transport plane
into Iraq on January 27 and January 28.  We were privileged to ride with
the brave men and women protecting our freedoms during these trips.  I
met troops based in Germany and some from Colorado who were looking
forward to an upcoming two-week rest period.  And I flew with a Reserve
group from Missouri that was coming into Iraq for the first time.

 

\"In an attempt to minimize our exposure to surface-to-air missiles, our
flights were made with lights extinguished, and departures and landings
featured a steep descent and sharp banking and turning.  It felt like a
roller coaster.  Before each flight, the crew told us exactly where to
find sickness bags, if necessary.  Thankfully, they were not.

 

**January 27**

 

\"In the early morning, we flew from Kuwait to Baghdad International
Airport.  In Baghdad, we met with members of the Iraqi reconstruction
team and Ambassador Paul Bremer, Administrator of the Coalition
Provisional Authority (CPA).  During this meeting, we discussed the
transfer of power from the CPA to the Iraqis and issues relating to
reconstruction.  Then, we met separately with Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez,
commander of the coalition\'s joint task force, and a number of his
senior officers.  The primary focus of our conversation was military
technology.  We also talked to Maj. Gen. Keith Dayton, the head of the
Iraq Survey Group.  Everyone-from the United Nations to the previous
Clinton administration to the Bush administration-knows that Saddam
Hussein had weapons of mass destruction (WMD).  This point is
undeniable.  After all, he gassed 5,000 Kurds, many of them women and
children, 16 years ago in Halabja.  The question now is: What did he do
with them?  The Iraq Survey Group is charged with investigating what
happened to Saddam\'s WMD.

 

\"Following our morning session with Ambassador Bremer and the CPA, we
visited the so-called \'Believers\' Palace,\' a former Saddam
underground command center.  This bunker demonstrates the high level of
skill achieved by Saddam\'s regime when it came to elaborate
deceptions.  Above ground, we saw an ornate ballroom with illusory
floors, and false doors and elevators.  The Baathists had placed rubble
at strategic locations, so that we would think that we had destroyed the
subterranean command post.  It was a sophisticated ploy.  Underground in
the bunker, there were enough stores to last for months.  In addition to
noting numerous decontamination areas, we saw that Saddam\'s regime had
stockpiled an abundant supply of chemical and biological protective
suits.

 

\"Later that afternoon, we met with Dr. Adnan Pachachi, President of the
Iraqi Council, along with representatives of the Sunni, Shia and Kurdish
communities at Ambassador Bremer\'s home.  The council members
maintained that elections should not be held in the near future, because
many of the basics that we take for granted-such as voting
lists-haven\'t yet been established.  They are worried that rushed
elections could have potentially dangerous, long-term consequences.

 

\"The 1^st^ Armored Division is responsible for the security of
Baghdad.  Before dinner, we talked to that division\'s deputy commander
and around 40 of his senior officers.  They told us that, while their
electronics were working well, basic technology endures heavy wear and
tear in Iraq due to the sand.  It was clear that they will need
replenishments.  We also talked about the important contribution of
members of our National Guard and Reserves, and specifically
concentrated on the length of their deployment times.  Additionally, our
conversation included discussion of exciting new software development. 
Such software would allow our existing computer systems in Iraq to
improve their bomb-detection capabilities.

 

\"That night, before returning to Kuwait City, we had dinner with the
troops.  I ate with four Hoosiers: three officers (from Noblesville,
Loogootee and Shoals) and an enlisted man (from Fortville).

 

\"Once back in Kuwait, I visited the house of the man who had served as
this small emirate\'s oil minister when Saddam invaded in 1991.  The
Baathists had turned the official\'s home into its Kuwait
headquarters-and torture center.

** **

**January 28**

 

\"We again took a morning C-130 flight into Iraq, this time landing at
Balad, which is north of Baghdad.  A majority-Shia city located in the
heart of the so-called \'Sunni Triangle,\' the air base at Balad is
larger and supposedly more secure than the one at Baghdad International
Airport.  Here I had lunch with U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Shane Arms. 
Shane graduated from Snider High School in June 1995, and his parents,
Thomas and Phyllis, live in Fort Wayne.  I found it ironic that Thomas
Arms worked in Grabill for 17 years at Sheller Globe Corp.  Here were
two of us with Grabill roots meeting up in Iraq!

 

\"From Balad, we flew over the \'Sunni Triangle\' in UH-60 Black Hawk
helicopters on the way to Saddam\'s home town of Tikrit.  Security
procedures were especially strict: helicopter flights over this area
never went over the same place twice; takeoffs were at 170 knots to
maximize speed in the shortest amount of time; and we flew very close to
the ground-so close that we had to gain altitude to pass over power
lines.

 

\"We landed near the Ad Dawr compound where Saddam was found in
December-not far from one of his Tikrit palaces-and examined the famous
\'spider hole\' that served as the tyrant\'s last, unsuccessful refuge
from justice.  The hole was virtually impossible to spot, and-once
found-it was tiny.  I had read that it was very small, but this cavity
could make a mole claustrophobic. Climbing down into the \'spider
hole,\' I felt as if I were in a casket: there was barely enough room to
move, limited oxygen, and just enough space to sit up.  It is no wonder
that Saddam was disoriented when he emerged.

 

\"That night, we returned again via C-130 to Kuwait.

 

\"From my discussions with our men and women in uniform, it was readily
apparent that they are frustrated by, and angry at, how the media have
portrayed the situation in Iraq.  Our troops continually emphasized the
fact that the number of terrorist attacks have dropped significantly
since we captured Saddam.  While the murderous toll exacted by these
organized terrorists is still high, our soldiers told me that we are
making progress and Iraq is making a transition.  This will not be an
easy process, but it is the right thing to do.\"

 

Three images taken by Harald Stavenas of the House Armed Services
Committee have been sent by email or are available from Souder\'s
office.  They include the following captions:

>  

1.  Congressman Souder poses with U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Shane Arms in
    Balad, Iraq. S/Sgt. Arms graduated from Fort Wayne\'s Snider High
    School in 1995.

2.  Congressman Souder has lunch with U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Shane
    Arms in Balad, Iraq. S/Sgt. Arms\' parents live in Fort Wayne.  His
    father, Thomas, worked in Grabill for 17 years.

3.  Congressman Souder emerges from the \"spider hole\" where Saddam
    Hussein was caught last December near the deposed tyrant\'s home
    town of Tikrit.

 

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