LITTLE ROCK An "American-style" democracy can't yet be established in Iraq given the factional divides and the impact of Saddam Hussein's rule, U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor said on Monday at the end of a visit to the country.
"Maybe over time that will develop and over time their country will end up looking a lot like America from the standpoint of government. ... There are reasons why it won't be an American-style democracy," Pryor, D-Ark. told reporters in a conference call Monday.
Pryor and Reps. Marion Berry, D-Ark., John Boozman, R-Ark. and Mike Ross, D-Ark. spoke with reporters as they returned home from a visit to Iraq over the weekend. The members of the state's congressional delegation visited with troops from the Arkansas National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade and with Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander there.
Pryor said that Petraeus referred to the type of democracy that will likely be established in the country as "Iraq-cracy."
"We're going to end up not with an American-style democracy, but with an Iraq style of democracy," Pryor said.
All four said they believed the military situation in Iraq is improving, but some questioned whether political progress was occurring. Ross questioned how long the military could sustain the surge of troop levels. The four spoke with reporters by phone in Italy.
"Anytime you spend $16 million an hour, you're going to make a difference. We could reduce the teenage pregnancy rate in America with $16 million an hour," Ross said. "The big question I have is what happens in Iraq when we're not spending $16 million an hour because we can't sustain that forever."
Boozman said he found encouraging signs that the political situation in Iraq was progressing.
"Politically, things seem to be improving, but all of this is very fragile and we're just going to have to see how this plays out in the future," Boozman said.
Ross and Berry said they didn't hear the same complaints they had heard in a past visit about troops not getting the equipment or the training they need for their mission, but said the problem now is that equipment is wearing down.
"There is no doubt that the quality of life they have right now is better than what they had before," Berry said. "They do have old equipment. They know that, the Army knows that, it just takes a while to replace this equipment and hopefully some of it will last as long as we need it to over there."
