Trips to Iraq reshape war views on Hill

From the Christian Science Monitor (with a major hat tip to Instapundit) comes an interesting story -- about one third of US Lawmakers (members of House and Senate) have been to Iraq in the last few months and many of those Lawmakers are coming back and voicing a greater support for the Coalitions involvement over there. Here: bq. Unlike during Vietnam, when congressional visits often fueled lawmakers' opposition to the war, these tours of Iraq are tending, if anything, to blunt antiwar sentiment. In many cases, they are solidifying support in Congress for the military effort. and here: bq. Still, lawmakers say that the situation on the ground is more positive than press reports had led them to believe: Schools are functioning, new construction projects are starting up at a rate of 100 a day, and troop morale is better than they had expected. While they also see problems, they're coming back on the side of doing what it takes to make it work. and here: bq. Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, the lone GOP senator to oppose the war in Iraq in 2002, returned from a two-day visit last October convinced that US action had been justified. Others aghast at President Bush's $87 billion request for reconstructing Iraq last October - atop of a $78 billion request in April - came back committed to voting the full amount. Democrats, who account for a third of 170-plus congressional visits to date, often come back determined to stay and spend what is needed to win the peace. bq. "It's important to see for yourself and to get some sense of what's going on," says Senator Chafee, who voted for President Bush's $87 billion supplemental request a week after his return from Iraq. He says that his visit convinced him that Iraqis were relieved to see Saddam Hussein toppled. Again, the media is not doing the job of fair and accurate reporting that it should. All media has bias but does so much of it have to be so blatant and wrong? Whatever sells newspapers I guess but still...