Republican lawmakers tout Iraq progress after visit

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A team of six Republican congressmen on Thursday said they saw signs of progress during a recent trip to Iraq and urged the US public to give the troop "surge" strategy more time to take effect.

Texas Representative John Carter said he spoke with commanders and soldiers who said they "feel like they are being successful in the fight ... because we are winning the people and the people are now helping us."

The greatest sign of increased stability, he said, was an impromptu stop in a street market in the western Al-Anbar province, once a vast stronghold of Sunni rebel insurgents.

"Anbar is a great story, you ought to go see it," he told reporters on the White House lawn.

"They have turned one of the hottest regions in the country into a place where we made a random stop in a market and we got out and walked through the market," he said.