Yesterday, Michigan Senator Carl Levin spoke in Grand Rapids at an event hosted by the Progressive Women's Alliance (PWA) on Grand Valley State University's Pew Campus. The mission of the PWA "is to influence public policy through the election of candidates and the advocacy of a progressive agenda." PWA so far has only endorsed Democratic candidates or candidates for non-partisan positions. The title of Senator Levin's talk was "One Year After the Surge: Where Do We Stand? Where Do We Go From Here?" He spoke for approximately 35 minutes with a 25-minute question and answer period. All questions were written down by audience members and submitted to PWA representatives before and during the speech.

Levin began his comments by talking about which positions he has taken on Iraq since the US Invasion/Occupation began in March of 2003. Levin stated that his position has been to "reduce the number of troops in Iraq, change the direction of the US mission there, and complete the major removal of troops within 9 months to 1 year." This position was proposed in the Levin-Reid Amendment. Senator Levin then stated that for this policy to be implemented, there needed to be a change in Washington. He went on to say that there is a clear difference between the likely GOP candidate McCain and the two front running Democratic candidates for President. Levin supported this statement by telling the audience that McCain recently supported US troops being in Iraq for another 100 years. While Levin critiqued the leading Republican presidential candidate, he failed to specify what the positions of Democrat Senators Clinton and Obama were in regards to Iraq.

Senator Levin went on to say that the US mission in Iraq after 5 years has meant roughly 4,000 US troop deaths and US policy was playing into the hands of Al Qaeda. Again, Levin provided no evidence to support this claim. He then stated, "Our focus should be on Al Qaeda, on their terrorism against innocents. We went after them in Afghanistan with unanimous Congressional support, because the government of Afghanistan was harboring terrorists." Once again, the Senator offered no evidence to support his claim, but he did say that there was no credible evidence of a link between Al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.

Next, Senator Levin addressed the question, "How do we Leave Iraq?" His first response was that the US needs to force the Iraqi political leaders to take control of their future. This answer was consistent with his previous statements where he places the blame on Iraqis. Levin did however acknowledge that there is "no military solution in Iraq," but again emphasized that the Iraqis need to take control of the situation. He then concluded this statement by saying, "We [the US] cannot be their security blanket."

The last issue that the Senator addressed in his talk was whether or not the US troop surge has worked. Levin claimed it has helped reduce violence in Iraq, but was not sure it would stay that way. He said that the US has now financed the Sunni insurgency to police their own community, but that this could lead to great tensions between the Sunni and the Shia. Levin said that the stated purpose of the "surge" was to "give the Iraqi political leaders a chance to work out a political solution." Again, Levin provided the audience with no evidence to support his claims.

The first question the PWA representative chose to read was, "What effect does the US elections have on Iraqi leaders and the decisions that they make?" Levin said that he really could not answer that question and continued on an irrelevant tangent. Next, a question was asked about where he stands on impeaching either President Bush or Vice President Cheney. Senator Levin said it would be a bad idea because "it will do the public no good." His comments ignore the substantial impeachment movement throughout the US. He also expressed that Congress would not be able to do anything else and that if Bush were impeached, the country would be "stuck" with Cheney.

The following question asked was in regards to private security contractors and accountability. Levin alluded to not having a particular problem with the use of private mercenaries, but that he did have a problem in that that they were not under the authority of the Department of Defense, however, Levin claims this will change with new legislation. He never mentioned what the legislation says or where people could find more information on it.

When asked whether or not there will be permanent US military bases in Iraq, Levin replied by saying that the ones that the US military uses now will eventually be turned over to the Iraqi military once they are in control of the country. This appears to contradict what analysts are saying, both military intelligence groups such as Global Security and independent journalist Dahr Jamail. There was also a question asked about a possible treaty signed between the US and Iraq which would allow for a permanent US presence in Iraq. He stated that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates informed Levin that "there would be no security agreement with Iraq." Levin said that unlike Rumsfeld, he had confidence in Gates. This was an interesting comment, since Levin was one of 30 senators to reject the 1991 nomination of Gates as CIA Director under President George H.W. Bush.

Levin was also asked about the support of US troops who have been wounded in Iraq. The Senator stated, "We have not made the same mistake in this war like we did during Vietnam, where people blamed the troops instead of the policy makers." The belief that US citizens went after Vietnam veterans upon return has been challenged by author Jerry Lemdcke in his book The Spitting Image and the documentary Sir, No Sir. Levin went on to say that the US is united in its support for the troops and that the US is now providing adequate support under the new Wounded Warriors Act. Levin again expressed his support of the troops and said that in conversations with them that they are in Iraq "to defend the right of people to protest in the US." Again, Levin provided no evidence to support such a claim.

The final question read to the Senator addressed the issue of war spending versus domestic spending. Levin stated that this is a great question to ask candidates, since the US is spending about $100 billion a year on the war in Iraq. Levin never addressed his own support for every funding bill on Iraq, nor the consequences to cuts on the domestic front. He simply ended his comments by saying "you have a big chance to chose a clear difference in this election year."

The local antiwar group ACTIVATE organized a protest against Levin's Iraq policy. A group of people outside gathered with signs and a banner that read "Stop Funding War" and "End the Occupation." Inside, two members handed out a tri-fold that featured statements by Levin on Iraq and his voting record on Iraq. The issues that this group wanted to address with Senator Levin were largely ignored since the format of the event prevented any real interaction and ways for the public to challenge or contest statements made by Senator Levin.