[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/08/14/jwebb.0814.gi.jpg caption=" U.S. Senator Jim Webb arrived in Myanmar on Friday where he is scheduled to meet with the reclusive country's military junta."]

WASHINGTON (CNN) - U.S. Senator Jim Webb arrived in Myanmar on Friday where he is scheduled to meet with the reclusive country's military junta, his office confirmed.

The Virginia Democrat is the first member of Congress to visit Myanmar in more than a decade. It will also be the first time a U.S. official meets with Myanmar's top official, junta leader Senior General Than Shwe.

Webb is chairman of the East Asia and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Webb is scheduled to depart Myanmar - also known as Burma - on Sunday. His office would not discuss what the first-term senator plans to discuss during his scheduled meeting with Than Shwe.

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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/02/02/art.webb.gi.jpg caption="'Every interested American knows that there was rampant fraud, waste, and abuse following the invasion of Iraq,' Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, said."]WASHINGTON (CNN) - Citing the need to restore public trust in an inefficient and allegedly corrupt military procurement process, a new government commission Monday officially began hearings to account for billions of taxpayer dollars misspent in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Every interested American knows that there was rampant fraud, waste, and abuse following the invasion of Iraq," Sen. Jim Webb, D-Virginia, said at the opening hearing of the Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"They all know it, and they want us to demonstrate that we're willing to do something about it not simply in terms of process but in terms of accountability."

The seven-member commission begins its work as the U.S. military prepares to cut troop levels in Iraq, but strengthen its presence in Afghanistan, where Taliban and al-Qaeda elements have made gains in recent years.

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Watch Webb's comments on American Morning.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia – someone widely considered to be on the shortlist as a possible running mate with Sen. Barack Obama – again defended his views on the Confederacy during an interview with CNN’s John Roberts.

WATCH what Sen. Webb said

Webb has argued in an essay, his book, and in a 1990 speech that the issue of state sovereignty rather than slavery was the "driving issue" for Confederate soldiers in fighting in the Civil War.

Many historians, however, have argued that slavery, not states’ rights, was the motivating force behind the Civil War.

In his interview with CNN, Webb said his comments about the Confederacy were as a historian dealing with a complex subject.

"Only 5 percent of the whites owned slaves in the height of slavery," Webb said. "The people in the North were never asked to give up their slaves even with the Emancipation Proclamation.

"Looking at military service as a citizen during that time, the issue was loyalty to your community, the same way it is when people are being sent to Iraq today," Webb said. "And that's a complicated issue. It's being obviously simplified in some form but I'm happy to discuss it and comfortable with my views on it."

Webb was criticized for his views on the Confederacy during his Senate run in 2006. Now that Webb’s name is being circulated as a potential running mate, the blogosphere is again raising concerns that Webb may be unacceptable to voters if invited to join the Democratic ticket.

The Virginia Democrat is seen as an attractive complement to Sen. Obama given his opposition to the Iraq war and strong national security credentials. Webb, a Vietnam veteran and a former secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan, however, said during his CNN interview that he was not seeking his party's vice presidential nomination.