Staff Writer

Middle East travels led to separate meetings with a U.S. general and a Palestinian leader, an area congressman who was part of the delegation said Monday.

Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Saugerties, said he met with U.S. Gen. Tommy Franks and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat last week. The trip was made to assess needs of the Middle East, according to press spokesman Kevin O'Connell.

Hinchey said the visit to the Middle East provided an opportunity to gain a better understanding of the military operations in Iraq. Hinchey said he met with Franks while attending a conference in Doha, Qatar, on economic relations with the United States, which started April 14. The U.S.-based Council on Foreign Relations sponsored the conference.

"(The war) has been a success beyond the expectations of most people," he said. Hinchey was among congressional Democrats who voted against the October 2002 resolution on invading Iraq. The resolution was approved 296-133.

"The future will be determined by the president and his advisers with the support of the Congress," Hinchey said. But people in the region he spoke with "don't want us there as an occupying force," he said. "If we are going to be there a long time, there will be difficulty with the population."

Hinchey said seeing the effects of the war hasn't made him change his views on invading Iraq.

"I think the same thing could have been accomplished without the destruction," he said. The three months U.N. weapons inspectors said they needed, "might have produced results that showed an invasion wasn't needed," Hinchey said.

Most people in the United States, Hinchey said, could see through the president's motives for the war as they shifted from regime change to the war on terrorism, to eliminating weapons of mass destruction and finally to the liberation of Iraq.

Bush's high approval ratings, Hinchey said, will change when people focus on the political problems caused by the war. For example, he said, "We are not welcome by the Iraqi people."

Hinchey and the delegation also met with Arafat in Ramallah last week. Several days later, Arafat's rejection of a slate of cabinet appointees, presented by prime minister designee Mahmoud Abbas, threatened progress to form a new government, reports said.

President Bush has said such a government is a first step to the "roadmap" for the Middle East he has promised that includes a settlement for the Palestinians.

Following the meeting, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., also a member of the delegation. said, "We had a very good meeting with Arafat and he is thoroughly committed to the peace process."

But Hinchey, speaking from his hotel room in Greece on Monday, said Arafat's refusal of the list "is a typical Arafat trick" to hold onto power. Positive statements about Arafat made by members of the delegation were "an attempt to put a good face on" the meeting, Hinchey said.

"We hoped what we said may have a positive input," Hinchey said. "Events have shown that not to be the case."

By his actions, Arafat "has missed another opportunity" to move the peace process forward, Hinchey said.

O'Connell said as a member of the House Appropriations Committee, Hinchey will have to make decisions about authorizing money for reconstruction work in Iraq and the needs of military personnel.

For congressmen needing to make decisions on the issues, Hinchey said, the trip was "informative and instructive." Hinchey said he expects to return to the United States this week.

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Mark Boshnack can be reached at starsidney@stny.rr.com or at (607) 563-1493.