Sen. Graham's Secret Mission In Iraq

The Republican Senator Served A Short Time And Experienced Loss First-Hand

(CBS)  When Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham made an official visit to the streets of Baghdad last month, it was a photo op for the national news, but few people knew that after the cameras left Graham broke away for a mission kept secret at the time.

"I spent about eight days in Iraq, after Sen. McCain left, as Col. Graham," he told CBS News Capitol hill correspondent Sharyl Attkisson in an exclusive interview.

Never before has a U.S. senator served active duty in Iraq. Graham, R-S.C., wore fatigues and a sidearm and was assigned to the new Rule of Law Task Force.

"The one thing I learned about the surge is that the military part of it — knocking down doors and shooting al Qaeda and arresting extremists — is part of it but not all of it," he said. "There is a surge going on on the law front."

As a lawyer who's served in the Air Force, and in the Guard and Reserves for 25 years, Graham brought his legal expertise to a place where Saddam Hussein and his henchmen played judge, jury and executioner. Graham counseled the Iraqis on how different their courts must be now.

"The old legal system was there to serve the dictator," he said. "The new legal system has to be there to serve all the people; not just one group of people"

He also learned a much more personal lesson after spending the day with Navy Cmdr. Philip Murphy-Sweet who helped build the brand new Green Zone courthouse.

"And he told me the story about how the American military in conjunction with the Iraqi government built this complex in 60 days," Graham said, "how they built the courtroom in five days and it was a courtroom that any state in our nation would be proud of. Ah, this was on a Friday. He was killed the next morning. Three young kids, a beautiful wife from Pennsylvania — killed by an IED.

"It hit me hard because I knew him. And I'm sure that the other deaths in Iraq have hit their colleagues hard. I just happened to meet this guy — just a random chance in life that I spent the last day with him. He was killed within 24 hours of when I met him. And I guess the story goes for me that nothing good in Iraq happens without a sacrifice."