Injured congressman Tim Murphy quotes soldiers as saying U.S. should stay in Iraq

Rep. Tim Murphy, one of two members of Congress treated at a military hospital after a weekend accident in Iraq, said wounded soldiers had told him the United States should remain in Iraq. Murphy appeared in hiking boots and sporting a small bandage on a cut above his right eye. He said he is still experiencing soreness in his neck, arms and back.

Murphy, 53, said he was traveling Saturday night on a back road to the Baghdad airport with Reps. Ike Skelton of Missouri and Jim Marshall of Georgia, both Democrats, when an approaching vehicle sideswiped their small armored bus.

Marshall, who was not injured, said that as the bus toppled over, he held onto Skelton, who has no use of his left arm and minimal use of his right arm due to a childhood bout with polio. A spokesman for Skelton said he was doing well, and medical tests in Germany showed no injuries to the 73-year-old congressman. He was expected home this week, the AP reports.

The delegation had traveled to Afghanistan for Thanksgiving with the troops before heading to Baghdad.

P.L.