"I wouldn't say you could take your family there on vacation, but it's definitely a lot different over there," he said. "We helped oversee the opening of a government building over there for the mayor's office and the Iraqi police, so things are moving more in a democratic direction. It's unfortunate that you don't get to see that a lot of times on the news."

"You keep thinking (while he's gone), is that car going to pull up in front of your house?" [Beverly Massey] said. "When he leaves, you don't know if he's coming back. And if he does come back, you don't know what sort of shape he's going to be in."