Article about my cousin, David Ashe, who is running for Congress

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

in Hampton Roads (VA) area, featured on front page of "The Daily Press" today.


http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-35889sy0jun29,0,223750.story?coll=dp-headlines-topnews

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Candidate for Congress looks back on Iraq duty
The local lawyer who helped rebuild Iraq's legal system is optimistic about the transfer of power.


BY KIMBALL PAYNE
247-4765

June 29, 2004

VIRGINIA BEACH -- Inside an abandoned railroad station in southwestern Iraq, Marine Corps Capt. David Ashe, a lawyer by training, received sparse instructions for his mission in a region that is home to about 1 million Iraqis.

"The MRE's are around back," he was told late last March. "Now go set up the legal system."

For the next six months, Ashe helped to rebuild a judicial system in the Muthanna province that was so fraught with corruption that one judge presided over his courtroom with an AK-47. Ashe fired crooked Baathists judges, evaluated and appointed replacements and helped draft a government charter for the vast region south of Baghdad.

As the interim Iraqi government begins its first days at the helm, Ashe - a Virginia Beach attorney who is running for the 2nd District congressional seat against U.S. Rep. Ed Schrock - offers a glimpse into the inner workings of the new government and first-hand knowledge of the delicate balance of street-level politics.

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