Marcy Kaptur Heading to the Middle East

Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-9th) will join a Congressional delegation to Iraq and Afghanistan. From the Blade:

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) announced today that she will be traveling to Iraq and Afghanistan with a congressional delegation from Monday to Feb. 26.

Ms. Kaptur will receive briefings from U.S. Command-level military officials and also meet civilian officials from both countries. She will also visit Pakistan and Kuwait during her trip. She is scheduled to meet injured troops in Germany on her return trip.

By the way, you can click through that link to her homepage, then to a link to see her speech on the resolution against Iraq escalation.

As it happens, Ezra Klein guest poster Ankush kvetches a bit about press coverage of administration "surprise" visits to Iraq, in response to Sec. of State Condaleeza Rice's recent drop-by. Here's the meat of his argument:

. . .but no one ever explicitly writes about why these visits are always a "surprise." The problem, of course, is that four years after our invasion, a high-level American official still can't go into Iraq without worrying about an assassination. The "surprises" are motivated, quite literally, by the fear of death.

Which makes me wonder: How do Congressional delegations run the gauntlet when their trips are almost always announced in advance? Certainly a bunch of lawmakers would be just as tempting a target for jihadists looking to stage a spectacular attack. So, are Congressional delegations in particular danger? Or, as Ankush intimates, does the "surprise" visit happen in part to attract press attention to a SOP visit?

Truly, I'm asking. Just don't get it.

Meanwhile, we wish Representative Kaptur a safe journey and look forward to reading about her impressions.