Osborne - Iraq

By: Associated Press

Updated: Fri 3:52 PM, Dec 19, 2003

Nebraska Congressman Tom Osborne says a military cargo plane carrying him and five other members of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee made an emergency response as if under attack shortly after leaving the Baghdad airport Thursday night.

Osborne says it was uncertain if the airplane actually was under attack but the plane made a couple of violent moves and deployed flares as if it was under a missile attack.

Osborne talked to Nebraska media in a telephone conference call from a base in Rome. The Third District Republican says the congressmen were riding on benches in the plane's largely empty cargo hold and had little time to worry about what was happening.

Osborne says he later talked to the pilot, by the way, was a former Air Force football player and was excited to talk with the former Nebraska football coach.

Osborne says the incident, whether an actual attack or not, emphasizes the danger that still exits in Iraq. The Baghdad airport remains closed to commercial flights.

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