PenceBlog: A Visit to CENTCOM - U.S. Congressman Mike Pence : 6th District Of Indiana

CENTCOM: Doha, Qatar

After a five-hour flight in the belly of a military C-130, our delegation landed with a thump on the runway of Camp Al Sayliya, Doha, Qatar. This is the home of CENTCOM, General John Abizaid and thousands of American forces.

With temperatures in the early morning of 100 degrees, we made our way to the morning briefing and a private meeting with Gen. Abizaid, the Combatant Commander of U.S. Central Command in the 27 countries that comprise our military activities in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is the commanding officer of more than 200, 000 U.S. forces throughout the region and, with so many questions being raised back home about the war in Iraq, hearing from him is (as we say in Indiana) "getting it from the horses mouth."

In two consecutive and lengthy briefings, I found Gen. Abizaid professional and intense. He is also a man deeply committed to winning the war in Iraq and said, without hesitation or qualification, "we are winning the war." He noted that in four years of war, we have never lost a tactical battle and never lost so much as a platoon to this enemy.

While much of the information we gleaned was sensitive, I was able to confirm that in the past year more than 100 Iraqi Battalions have been trained and deployed in defense of their own country and, assuming we stay on schedule, nearly 100 more Iraqi Battalions of roughly 1,000 uniformed soldiers each will be deployed.

While some in the states call for solutions in Iraq ranging from withdrawal to a significant increase in troops, Gen. Abizaid was adamant that (1) he has all the troops he needs and if he needs more he will ask for them and (2) more U.S. forces in the region is not the answer anyway. This general explained that our strategy is to have Iraqi forces trained and deployed under the authority of a legitimate constitutional government.

The balance of our time in Qatar was spent with soldiers from our home states. I had the pleasure of dining with several MP's from Indiana, including Master Sergeant Mark Daulton of Anderson, Indiana, and Captain Chuck Yeager of Nashville, Indiana.

One after another expressed the pride and determination that Hoosiers would expect of our soldiers even as they spoke of the difficulty of time away from wives and children.
I told them how people back home would stop me on the street after they heard I was headed for the Middle East and make me promise to "tell our soldiers we are praying for 'em and we appreciate 'em." With those words, some pretty tough MP's and one politician needed a minute to regroup. In four years of traveling to visit our troops, I never fail to leave such occasions humbled by the sacrifice of these brave men and women and deeply grateful to serve such people in Washington.

It's 110 degrees and we are heading east on another C-130..

Rep. Mike Pence
CENTCOM
Doha, Qatar

posted by Pence Press Office # 4:32 PM