Gibbons, panel describe Iraq they visited this year

Suzanne Struglinski

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2003 | 11:09 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- While the search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq continues, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., and other House members who recently visited the country shared stories of a growing and recovering nation they said they do not see on the evening news or in newspapers.

Gibbons, who visited Iraq in July, said the United States is just starting to uncover the details on how the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein hid plans and materials for weapons in scientists backyards and buried underground.

"We do not think we are going to find a warehouse full of shiny boxes marked 'WMD,' " he said.

But while in Iraq Gibbons saw the 7 1/2 miles of stacks of documents troops have uncovered, and he was told they included Hussein's plans for weapons of mass destruction, he said. He said the former regime had decades to hide information around the country so it is obviously going to take time to find all of it.

There is still a lot of work to do, but troops will "untangle" the web of information Saddam created, Gibbons said. He said the government wants to make sure they put together a good portion of the evidence they find on the weapons before leaking it out.

The panel told reporters of children going back to school, television satellite dishes appearing on houses and Internet cafes springing up -- all items once banned under Hussein.

Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., added that the zoo is open, museums are open and people even went to hear a symphony play while he was there. He said troops there are committing helping a lot of Iraqi people in every way they can.

Rep. Chris Chocola, R-Ind., said parts of the country "looks like Las Vegas without the neon," adding that some parts of Iraq have more luxury that anyone can imagine, but then just over the wall there is terrible poverty.

"This is much larger than Iraq," Chocola said. "This is bringing greater security to the Middle East."

Gibbons said Iraq in the summer is not a pleasant place to be, but the soldiers he spoke with there understood why they were fighting.

"If we don't succedd in Iraq, we won't succeed in our backyard," Gibbons said.

Gibbons said he may visit Iraq again in October or after the House adjourns for the year.