Michigan Senator Carl Levin’s Iraq Position “Praised” by the Bush Administration

According to Reuters, Michigan Senator Carl Levin’s stance on a new Iraq spending bill has been praised by officials in the Bush administration. Reuters reported that an unnamed “senior White House official” praised Levin’s role and his advocacy of a bill that would “measure” Iraq’s compliance with a series of benchmarks imposed by the United States. The benchmarks could include adoption of an Iraqi oil law favorable to Western corporations, monitoring of the Iraqi government’s cooperation with the United States, and implementing an Iraqi-run operation to decommission the militias.

Democrats, including Carl Levin, have already stated that they will fund the troops no matter what, showing that despite differences with the Bush administration they will not stop funding the war as a means of ending it. Democratic House Majority Leader Stony Hoyer said that “we are going to fund the troops, we are not going to leave our troops in harm’s way without the resources that they need.” Michigan Senator Carl Levin made a similar statement last month, saying, “We’re not going to vote to cut funding. Period.” The media has reported that the Democrats will drop a “timetable” for withdrawal from their second bill, with Democrats such as Senator Harry Reid now speaking of a way to “transition” rather than end the United States presence in Iraq. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made comments yesterday summarizing the Democrats’ position, stating, “We made our position clear. He [President Bush] made his position clear. Now it is time for us to try to work together.”

Michigan Senator Levin, who has been praised by the Bush administration for his advocacy of benchmarks, continued to advocate benchmarks on Wednesday. As he has done in the past, Senator Levin yesterday assigned blame for the ongoing violence in Iraq on the Iraqi people:

Baghdad is burning while the Iraqi politicians avoid responsibility for their country’s future. Our soldiers risk their lives while Iraqi politicians refuse to take political risks. We cannot have the lives of American service members held hostage to Iraqi political intrigue and intransigence. We need to pressure them to make the necessary compromises.

Senator Levin made no mention of the role that the United States’ presence plays in motivating the Iraqi insurgency.

On CNN Wednesday, Senator Carl Levin further indicated that he was willing to compromise with the Bush administration. While he said that President George W. Bush had “vetoed the will of the American people” who want a conclusion to the war, he indicated that he is willing to work with the Bush administration to pass a bill that would include a series of benchmarks and consequences if Iraq fails to meet the benchmarks. Levin said that it is essential that President Bush tell the Iraqis that they take the “political risks” necessary to make progress on the benchmarks. He defended timetables as a way of doing this, but also mentioned that the Iraq Study Group endorsed cuts in military and economic aid. Once again, Senator Levin dismissed the idea of an immediate end to the occupation, saying “of course you can’t pack up tonight and leave tomorrow” without citing any evidence to support his view. He reiterated arguments made by himself and other liberal critics of the war that assigns most of the responsibility for the current situation to the Iraqis, stating that “we cannot save them from themselves,” a statement that conveys the idea that Iraqis are brutal people that are unable to refrain from killing each other. He cited Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who has said, “the reason that the bloodshed continues is the failure of the Iraqi political leaders” to bolster his argument.

In both rejecting an immediate withdrawal and in expressing support for the ongoing presence of at least some soldiers in Iraq to “defeat al-Qaida,” Senator Levin highlighted the fact that much of the Democratic Party’s efforts to end the war have been focused more on giving the appearance of wanting to end the war rather than actually doing so. One Democratic Senator could effectively end the war by filibustering the Iraq spending bill, thereby forcing the Bush administration to halt the war. Instead, the Democrats passed a bill that would have at best allowed for the continued occupation by withdrawing only “combat” troops and at worst maintained the current level of slaughter, which has killed more than 655,000 Iraqi civilians since the 2003 invasion. Now, they seem willing to compromise to pass a bill that insulates them from charges of failing to “support the troops” while allowing the occupation of Iraq to continue.

Related Posts:

1. Recent Statements by Michigan Senator Carl Levin on the Iraq War Assign Responsibility for Violence to the Iraqis
2. Senator Carl Levin Speaking on Iraq in Grand Rapids
3. Michigan Senator Carl Levin Comments on DOD Report on Pre-War Iraq Intelligence
4. Antiwar Ad Targets Senator Levin
5. Senator Levin: “We’re Not Going to Vote to Cut Funding, Period”

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