Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=6-22-04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=SENATORS / IRAQ (L-O)

NUMBER=2-316909

BYLINE=DEBORAH TATE

DATELINE=CAPITOL HILL

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

HEADLINE: U.S. Senators Say They Are Optimistic, Realistic About Iraq's future

INTRO: Two U-S Senators just back from a brief visit to Iraq say they are optimistic about the future of that country. But they say a successful transition of power to the Iraqi people will depend on greater international involvement and continued support of the American people. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

TEXT: The top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, returned from their trip just over a week before the U-S-led coalition hands over power to the Iraqi people.

The two Senators say they returned more optimistic, and yet more realistic, about Iraq's future.

Senator Graham says U-S support will continue to be crucial after the transfer of power.

/// GRAHAM ACTUALITY ///

"I have come back from Iraq believing that the Iraqi people have the will to be free, they just do not have the capacity to be free. Conversely, I have come back with the belief that we have the capacity to win this war and make Iraq free. The question is do we have the will, do we have the will to keep spending the money, the blood and the treasure, and to slow down and to take the time?"

/// END ACT ///

/// OPT /// Senator Biden offered similar comments:

/// BIDEN OPT ACTUALITY ///

"I come back with greater faith in the Iraqi people's willingness to do what has to be done, a greater sense of urgency about the need for us to change our tactics as to how we are proceeding, and more convinced that if we do we can succeed, than I was before I left."

/// END ACT /// /// END OPT ///

Senator Biden says greater involvement by the international community is essential to accelerate the training of Iraqi police, improve the country's infrastructure and forgive its crippling debt burden.

He says the United States and the Iraqis themselves may have to exert some pressure on the international community to get it more involved, noting that many nations opposed the U-S-led war in Iraq.

/// BIDEN ACTUALITY ///

"The international community understandably may be angry at George Bush, but my message to them is "Get over it. Get over it, and get on with the business of investing in Iraq's future."

/// END ACT ///

Senator Graham agrees, saying the stakes are extremely high.

/// GRAHAM ACTUALITY ///

"If the insurgents and the terrorists drive out the international community, including us, prematurely, before the Iraqi people have a chance at self-governance, it will be a death sentence for all moderate forces in the Middle East. Conversely, if we win, winning is giving the Iraqi people a chance to do what we do every day here, vote for your leadership and walk around with some sense of freedom and security, then the Middle East has the potential for dramatic change.

/// END ACT ///

Also traveling with Senators Graham and Biden was Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. (Signed)

NEB/DAT/FC/RH