From Deseret News archives:

Huntsman visits Utah Guard troops

Published: Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006 11:45 p.m. MST
 |  E-MAIL | PRINT | FONT + - 
On his second visit to the Middle East this year, Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said he's offering thanks to Utah troops but expressing concern to foreign leaders about the lack of progress in Iraq.

During an overnight visit to Baghdad, Huntsman said he and the governors of New York, New Jersey and Oregon told an Iraq deputy prime minister that Americans are beginning "to lose focus of what success means and what our ultimate goals are" in Iraq.

That's true even in Utah, the governor said, despite the state's strong support for President Bush and his efforts against terrorism and with what's now being labeled by some as a civil war in Iraq.

"I think anyone watching the evening news and reading the papers would have to be somewhat concerned about the level of progress and the willingness on the part of the Iraqi government to accept more responsibility," Huntsman said.

The four governors are in the Middle East at the invitation of the U.S. Defense Department and will travel to Afghanistan before returning this weekend. Huntsman said they have already visited troops in Kuwait and spent Tuesday night in Baghdad.

Story continues below
He called the loss of Utah National Guard 2nd Lt. Scott B. Lundell in Afghanistan "a real tragedy" and said he'll offer his condolences to members of Lundell's I-Corps Artillery unit, which includes more than 100 Utahns. Lundell, 35, was killed Saturday during a firefight.

Huntsman said he sat down with members of the Utah National Guard's 2-211th Aviation Battalion on Wednesday morning. "They wanted to talk about the home front, the Jazz, the BYU-Utah game," he said. "They're thinking about home."

The governor said the "situation has deteriorated" in Baghdad since he was there in March as part of a delegation of governors and members of Congress to the region led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

"It's a very disturbing turn of events," Huntsman said. Although a government is now in place, "while making the transition, they seem to be caught in a crossfire of sectarian angst and violent actions on the part of rebel groups."

Still, he stopped short of saying the country is in the grips of a civil war, even though that term is being increasingly used to describe the violent conflict between various factions.

"I've asked the best minds I could find whether they're officially at the point of civil war or not, and even the best minds disagree," the governor said. "But one thing for sure is that it's a dangerous environment and that will continue to escalate in the weeks ahead."

Comments

You can be the first to comment on this story.

Image
Photo U.S. Army via KSL-TV

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman visits troops in Mideast.

previousnext

Latest comments

I'm a 25-year BYU fan. Great game to watch - it was close to the very last...

Where was her NCO beforehand? In my opinion a good NCO would have looked...

Hall mouths off about hate of Utah

Enough said.

there's the rub.

Traditional views are changing. Marriage syno is Joined. It doesn't mean...

Cougars beat Utes in overtime

Utah 2 BYU 0 (zero, zip, nil) And yes, Utah fans can still talk BCS since...

Memo to Ute Fans: Admit it. You hate BYU, and we hate you all too. Someone...

Field goals, penalties doomed Utes

Utah 2 BYU 0 (zero, zip, nil) And yes, Utah fans can still talk BCS...

legalizing marriage for the gays will end up being a plague upon them. Old...

2 more paragraphs and you would have made it. An entire piece without some...

Advertisements