WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military's situation in Iraq is bad and getting worse, Minnesota Sen. Mark Dayton said Thursday.
Dayton, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, briefly left a committee hearing late Thursday morning to speak to Minnesota reporters in a conference call.
"I would say the administration is still in a state of serious public denial on the deteriorating conditions in Iraq," Dayton said.
Gen. John Abizaid, the top American commander directing the war, told the committee the sectarian violence in the country is the worst he's seen and could lead to a civil war. Some critics say the situation is already a civil war.
Dayton said he pressed hard to get a plan for dealing with a civil war when the committee heard from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Abizaid and Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the joint chiefs.
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"I told them I've been to far too many funerals and wakes of Minnesotans who gave their lives in Iraq," he said. "I asked what is the strategy for reversing the declines" in the situation there.
"I will continue to seek those answers," Dayton said. "I think it's unfortunate they will not level with the American people."
As displeased as he is with the situation in Iraq and with the administration's actions, Dayton is not in favor of bringing troops home now.
The situation in Iraq "could get decidedly worse," Dayton said. "I believe we need to have the troops there that the generals say they need to carry out their mission."
Dayton said he will be leaving Saturday for an eight-day trip to China, as part of an inter-parliamentary ex-change. Nine senators will meet with members of the People's Congress in China, while other delegates from the People's Congress are in Washington.
After that trip, he will be visiting border communities in northern Minnesota before visiting areas along the Mexican border. He said he will be studying the differences in resources committed to security along both borders.
