Indiana Republican Rep. Mike Pence, who accompanied John McCain on his heavily armored “walk” through Baghdad this weekend, explains what he sees as progress being made:
“We did travel down to the area in Humvees — armored Humvees. Fortunately, I think, by virtue of congressional support, all the Humvees are armored. What was striking to me just as an observer was to see Gen. Petraeus take off a helmet and put on a soft cap, and then instruct each one of us at our discretion to do the same. We retained our body armor for — at the instruction of our security detail.
“But I have to tell you — and there was some video journalism that was done there, and you can see for yourself — we moved and mingled among some of the warmest and most welcoming people that I’ve ever met on the face of the Earth.”
