January 27-28, 2004

Kuwait City: Boarding a C-130 for Baghdad.

Flying aboard a C-130 to Baghdad with the 1st Armored Division.

Rep. Israel speaking to Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, about quality of life for the Iraqis, the status of reconstruction efforts and the morale of American soldiers.

Baghdad: Destruction in the "Believer's Palace."

A protective detail escorting the delegation.

Handing “Dear Soldier Letters” from school children in Babylon to Drew Featherston of Smithtown at the Bob Hope Dining Facility.

On a C-130 en route from Baghdad to Kuwait with soldiers.

Receiving a briefing by Major General Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division in the Sunni Triangle.

Aboard a Blackhawk helicopter from Balad to Tikrit in the Sunni Triangle.

Rep. Curt Weldon (R-PA), the head of our Armed Services Delegation, aboard a Blackhawk.

Rep. Israel presents a Bay Shore Fire Department shirt to Major General Odierno, commander of the 4th Infantry Division in the Sunni Triangle, in memory of 2 Bay Shore residents who were killed in Iraq defending their country: Raheen Tyson Heighter and Jacob Fletcher. In the middle is Rep. Curt Weldon, chair of the House Fire Services Caucus.

Meeting with New York reservists in Balad.

The “Spider Hole” was Saddam Hussein’s last refuge.

In front of Saddam Hussein’s “Spider Hole.”

Saddam Hussein spent his last days in this tiny cement structure; only a few feet from the “Spider Hole”. When the room was secured by U.S. troops, they found books, unopened packages of socks and underwear, food and a suitcase of U.S. dollars.

A U.S. soldier re-enlists in a ceremony at the “Spider Hole.”

Troops take photos of the “Spider Hole.”

Rep. Israel and a soldier from New York, in Tikrit.

Over lunch in Iraq, Congressman Israel discusses the operation's progress with New York troops assigned to the Sunni Triangle.