Nebraskans half a world away from Iraq need travel no farther than their home computers to get a sense what life is like for soldiers serving in the war-torn country.

Following his tour of Iraq last weekend, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson launched an interactive webpage today designed to allow visitors to virtually go along with him as he meets with Nebraska troops and Iraqi leaders throughout the region.

“Each time I travel to Iraq I learn more about the obstacles and opportunities confronting the country and our soldiers,” said Nelson. “Using technology to share these lessons with people back home is important to me and I hope my Iraq map-journal is as informative and impacting for visitors as the four-day tour was for me.”

The map-journal simulation, which features stories, photos, and video of Nelson’s CODEL, incorporates Google Earth technology to bring a glimpse of the reality of the situation in Iraq to anyone with an Internet connection. Nelson has previously hosted interactive pages on his Senate website to post video and card greetings from Nebraskans to troops serving overseas.

Senator Nelson, who serves as Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, joined Sen. Jeff Sessions (AL), Rep. Lee Terry (NE), and Rep. Devin Nunes (CA) on a Congressional Delegation (CODEL) to Iraq April 26-30, 2007.

To view the new webpage, please visit http://bennelson.senate.gov/iraqcodel and follow the links.