Topeka ? U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says the current situation in Iraq is “dicey” but that he sees no need to delay national elections there.

“This is a pretty dicey time, a pretty dangerous time,” said Roberts, R-Kan., who was in the state Thursday for a meeting of his advisory group on science and technology. “I hope the Iraqis can learn to stand up and protect stability and individual freedom.”

The sooner that can happen, the sooner U.S. troops can start returning home, he said.

Violence continues to erupt in Iraq as the Jan. 30 National Assembly elections near.

U.S. Rep. Jim Ryun, a Republican from Lawrence, also said the elections should proceed as scheduled.

“I’m satisfied with the progress that has been made as we move closer to the elections at the end of this month,” Ryun said.

The recent acknowledgment from the White House that the hunt for weapons of mass destruction was over in Iraq did not reduce Ryun’s belief that the war was necessary, he said.

In ordering the invasion of Iraq, President Bush said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. But the Iraq Survey Group, made up of military and intelligence specialists, is ending its search for weapons thought to be hidden in the country.

“The final word was that he (Hussein) had very preliminary preparations and, again, whether they were ferreted out of the country at the beginning of the war still remains an uncertain issue,” Ryun said.

Roberts said the weapons assumption was an intelligence mistake made by many countries, including the United States.

“That is why we have an intelligence reform bill so that we damn well do a lot better in information sharing, and with a correct consensus threat warning that is accurate,” he said.