Careful, Mr. McDermott

Rep. Jim McDermott is outspoken and right often enough to be annoying. The Seattle Democrat worries about people, places and troubles most of us easily ignore.

He works on HIV/AIDS in Africa and has been to Cuba and North Korea. His candor stirs trouble. He continues to pay a price for speaking his mind in Baghdad, months before the Bush administration launched its disastrous war.

The Associated Press reported federal prosecutors said McDermott's 2002 travels with two other congressmen fit the timeline of a trip organized by a Michigan man with ties to Saddam Hussein's intelligence service, which paid for everything.

In an initial response, McDermott's press spokesman repeated that the congressman had been invited to Iraq by the Church Council of Greater Seattle and was unaware of any other funding.

The explanation butts into a story by reporter Jim Brunner that ran in The Seattle Times four years ago, which dealt with McDermott's return of $5,000 to an Iraqi American who admitted financial ties to Saddam Hussein's regime. The money had been donated to a legal-defense fund for a lawsuit against McDermott.

The 2004 story also noted his earlier travels: "A nonprofit organization, Life for Relief and Development, paid McDermott's $5,510 travel expenses for the Iraq trip, according to a disclosure form filed with the House clerk."

Now, federal authorities say the intermediary who arranged the trip, who also worked for Life for Relief and Development, received oil vouchers from Saddam's government for setting up a visit by three congressmen. The feds do not suggest the congressmen had knowledge of the connections.

McDermott said Thursday he will check archived records on the trip, which he recalls being officially vetted ahead of time.

The willingness of elected officials to visit global hot spots is to be applauded. They have to be mindful of good intentions being exploited or their credibility being undercut.

McDermott said in Baghdad he wanted weapons inspections to be given a chance to work — as the Bush administration backed away from them. He was skeptical of the president's candor. History sided with the congressman.

McDermott travels a lot, for good purpose, but the lesson is to get the details right before the plane takes off.