GO TO IRAQ. LEARN STUFF. SUPPORT WAR:

One-third of lawmakers have now been to Iraq. Many returning voice stronger support.

In a development that has received little public attention, about a third the US Congress has been to Iraq since May – and the trips are shifting the political dynamic on Capitol Hill about the war.

Unlike during Vietnam, when congressional visits often fueled lawmakers’ opposition to the war, these tours of Iraq are tending, if anything, to blunt antiwar sentiment. In many cases, they are solidifying support in Congress for the military effort. . . .

Still, lawmakers say that the situation on the ground is more positive than press reports had led them to believe: Schools are functioning, new construction projects are starting up at a rate of 100 a day, and troop morale is better than they had expected. While they also see problems, they’re coming back on the side of doing what it takes to make it work.

Conversion of a critic

Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, the lone GOP senator to oppose the war in Iraq in 2002, returned from a two-day visit last October convinced that US action had been justified. Others aghast at President Bush’s $87 billion request for reconstructing Iraq last October – atop of a $78 billion request in April – came back committed to voting the full amount. Democrats, who account for a third of 170-plus congressional visits to date, often come back determined to stay and spend what is needed to win the peace.

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UPDATE: Here’s more commentary on this article by Cori Dauber.