Case sees Hawai'i role in Iraq

By B.J. Reyes
Associated Press

After touring Baghdad and surrounding areas for a second day, Case said he was struck by what appeared to be farm-quality land, noting that agriculture is likely to be a sector that helps bring the region back to viability.

"I think that's one area where Hawai'i can benefit," Case said in a conference call from Kuwait. "We've got a lot of agriculture expertise."

He cited recent federal grants worth about $11 million awarded to the University of Hawai'i to help the universities of Mosul and Dobuk. Hawai'i researchers will focus on agricultural sciences at Mosul to help address Iraq's food production shortages.

"I want to try to figure out how I can bring more of the agriculture community in Hawai'i into this, because we're really made for it," Case said.

He is in the Middle East as part of a six-member congressional delegation to review U.S. military and reconstruction efforts.

Yesterday's schedule was marked by heavy security after leaflets said to be linked to Saddam Hussein loyalists were found a day earlier calling for a three-day general strike and an insurgent "Day of Resistance" — sparking rumors of new terror bombings.

Case said he saw few signs of resistance as most citizens go on with their daily lives.

"The best reports I have was that Iraqis in Baghdad were out living their lives," he said. "We certainly saw a lot of schoolchildren out going to school. There were plenty of Iraqi citizens at coalition headquarters, which is a real beehive of activity."

The delegation also had a briefing from David Kay, head of the Bush administration's search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Case said.

Kay's report that no such weapons had been found was "disturbing," Case said, since that was the justification used by the Bush administration to wage war in Iraq.

"We have undertaken a course of conduct that I believe we cannot pull out of right now," Case said. "We need to finish this job. I think it is a matter of credibility."