Boswell Completes Meetings with Iowa Troops, Key Military Leaders in Afghanistan
Leonard Boswell
Rome, Italy – Congressman Leonard Boswell returned to Italy from a bipartisan Congressional Delegation trip to Afghanistan earlier this week, where he visited Iowa Guard troops on the ground and attended a series of key meetings with military leaders, including President Hamid Karzai, on the political and security situation in the country.
“This trip is invaluable to better understanding the political and security challenges that the U.S. troops and commanders face in Afghanistan, and the work that still must be done in order to get our troops home while maintaining the progress they have made in the nation,” said Boswell, a 20-year military veteran. “I was also honored to shake the hands of the men and women of the Iowa National Guard and Iowa Marines serving in Afghanistan and to thank them for their service and sacrifice.”
The CODEL, led by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, met with President Karzai, Lt. General William B. Caldwell, IV, of the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan, U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, and other senior military and civilian officials. Boswell also met with troops from the 1st Battalion, 2nd Brigade of the Iowa National Guard, led by Lt. Colonel Steve Kremer of Cherokee, Iowa, and U.S. Marines from Iowa in a forward operation area.
The delegation is currently in Italy, meeting with government and military officials there, as well as U.S. troops stationed in the nation. Today, they met with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, and discussed the role of the United States and Italy as members of joint NATO operations in Libya. There are currently more than 10,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Italy and the country hosts six U.S. military bases.
