By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis, MO. – Missouri Congressman Russ Carnahan is home from a two-day fact-finding mission to Iraq. Carnahan says he's encouraged by U.S. efforts to stabilize the region.
Carnahan met with U.S. forces and new members of the Iraqi National Assembly. He says the troops are satisfied with the level of material support they're receiving, and that aggressive defense training programs show promising signs of a U.S. withdrawal.
"By mid to late this year, we think there's going to be a substantial number of Iraqi troops and police trained so that we can begin to bring our troops home. That's some of the real positive news that we saw," he said.
Carnahan was in Iraq at the time of the shooting death of an Italian intelligence officer at a U-S checkpoint. He believes the incident will not substantially damage America's alliance with Italy.