Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon revealed Sunday that he's in the Middle East visiting Missouri soldiers with a cohort of military officials and other state governors.
He's traveling with four other governors: Rick Perry of Texas, Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Pat Quinn of Illinois and Jim Gibbons of Nevada.
Nixon, a Democrat, participated in a conference call with reporters from a military base in Kuwait on Sunday afternoon. He said he left the United States on Friday, after meeting with U.S. Defense Department officials in Washington.
The visit's purpose was three-fold, he said: first, to visit with Missouri troops and deliver regards from home; second, to observe the interaction between national guard troops, reserves and regular troops in action; and third, to lobby military leaders to ensure vehicles and equipment are returned to Missouri once they're transitioned out of Iraq.
Already on the trip he's visited several sites in Iraq, where the military is beginning the process of drawing down forces that have been there for more than six years.
Nixon said he spent Saturday night in Baghdad and has also visited Basra and a number of other areas with "hard-to-pronounce" names. His words, not ours.
Read the full story at primebuzz.kcstar.com