Why do you think a canidate should go to visit Iraq, or is it a waste of time?

A visit to Iraq or Afganastan is very important. It sends a message to many people. To the Iraqi people it tells them that they are important and that you are trying to understand them. It tells the government that you are at least interested in what they have to say and to give them a chance to meet with you. It tells the enemy that you support the people and consider this battle to be important. Finally it tells the military that you are their commander and you go where they go. You consider them important enough to come to them. You have a better understanding of what the conditions are like and what they face on a day to day basis. Not going sends a very different message to all groups. The people know if you are real or just faking it. It is very important that Senator Obama visit the troops in the war zone.

You might be right, as the Bush Administration is going to want to give the candidate the feeling that we really ARE making progress there to try to convince them to stay in Iraq and keep fighting - especially in the case of either Democratic Candidate. But on the other hand, if they do not visit Iraq, and really see and feel for themselves what is going on there, and what the mood toward America is I do not believe they would be as fully prepared to take over the roll of Commander in Chief during war time. Considering how things are over there, we really need our next president to be as well prepared as possible to face the situation. First hand contact and knowledge is really the best way to try to prepare themselves to deal with this very serious issue.

It certainly can be just a PR event, as the trip McCain took several months ago when he said how much progress had been made, how he could walk freely around the marketplace in Baghdad; only problem was he didn't tell us about the Blackhawk helicopters hovering above him or the armed guards surrounding him! I agree they do need to get a real feel of what's going on there and WE need to get the TRUTH from our officials, not like it's been where we get one story from one Senator and the complete opposite from another and we don't know who to believe so who believes who falls in along party lines. We've had on occasion several Senators, some from each party, go together, then we can get a more accurate take on what conditions are like. It would be interesting to see what the results of an Obama/McCain joint trip would be! Annie