By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis, Mo. – "It's not a safe environment at all," US Congressman Todd Akin, Missouri, said of Iraq.
Akin was part of a delegation of four republicans and two democrats who went to Iraq to assess the role of small businesses in rebuilding the country. He says while there is still a lot of danger there - as evidenced by repeated attacks on the military - he thinks those loyal to Saddam Hussein will be eliminated.
"We have to recognize that the situation going on now is not something we're willing to tolerate for a long period of time. And so we have to have a plan to fix what's going on and we do and it's a very good plan," Akin sai.
Akin says the infrastructure of Iraq is already in better shape than it was under Hussein, but complete restoration will take time.