U.S. Senator Jon Tester is scheduled to make his first visit to Iraq next week.
Tester and fellow freshman Senator Jim Webb of Virginia plan to assess the country’s military and political situation. Both Webb and Tester are members of the senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
Tester has argued the war in Iraq is a waste of billions of dollars a week. He says the original mission is completed and the nation can no longer spend money refereeing a civil war.
He has joined other Senate Democrats who want to de-authorize the war and force the president to get approval from Congress to continue the fight.
A spokeswoman in Webb’s office says State Department restrictions prevent her from revealing the senators’ traveling schedule.