Levin ‘concerned’ over possible Iraq troop expansion: 12/30/06
By Gordon Trowbridge
Detroit News
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin said Thursday he is “very concerned” that President Bush is considering plans to add U.S. troops to Iraq, a move seen as the likely centerpiece of a new war strategy the president is expected to outline in the coming weeks.
“I’m concerned the president is not going to make a significant change in his policy, but only a slight modification that gets us in deeper,” Levin, D-Mich., said in an interview with The Detroit News.
Levin has opposed such plans in the past, but his opposition and that of other Democrats has taken on renewed importance as a so-called “surge” of combat forces has emerged as a likely part of the new course Bush has promised. The president met on Thursday with his national security team at his Texas ranch, one of a series of meetings aides have said will develop a new strategy to be announced in early January.
“I’m making good progress toward coming up with a plan that we think will help us achieve our objective,” Bush told reporters in Texas on Thursday. He did not say when he will outline his plan, but did say he will consult with congressional leaders of both parties.
The Democratic takeover of Congress means the two Senate committees overseeing Iraq will now be led by opponents of a surge — Levin, who takes over next week as chairman of the Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., who will head the International Relations Committee. Earlier this week, Biden held a conference call where he told reporters he opposed the surge — in hopes, he said, of persuading the president to drop the idea.
Public opinion polls show most Americans opposed to additional troop deployments to Iraq. Democrats have said they hoped the November elections, the criticism of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group and the installation of new Defense Secretary Robert Gates would lead to an overhaul of the administration’s Iraq strategy.
But a plan to add troops will likely lead to contentious hearings before Levin’s committee, scheduled to begin Jan. 11. Levin and the panel’s senior Republican, Sen. John McCain, sent a letter to the Pentagon this week asking for testimony from Gates and Gen. Peter Pace, the Pentagon’s top general, at that hearing.
Levin said Thursday the committee will hold additional hearings, likely on Jan. 18 and Jan. 25, to seek outside opinions on the war. The goal: Find a policy on which congressional Democrats and Republicans can agree — even if that policy contradicts the president’s plan.
“I’m hoping a number of Republicans, if the president is not changing direction would join us in a bipartisan way” to back a different policy, Levin said.
Levin, Biden and other Democrats have said they oppose additional troops because that would reduce pressure on the Iraqis to solve the religiously inspired political crisis the country is in.
“It’s absolutely the wrong strategy,” Biden said this week. “We must force a political settlement.”
“There is no military solution in Iraq,” Levin said Thursday, repeating a phrase he has used often in recent months in calling for a withdrawal of U.S. forces to begin within four to six months.