Sen. Levin heads to Iraq to tell leaders to 'count us out of your civil war'

[bigtree]

August 15, 2007

LANSING, Michigan: The chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services committee said he was leaving Wednesday for Iraq to tell its leaders that they must accept responsibility for their country.

"Folks, if you want a civil war in this country, that's your choice. Count us out of your civil war. We've been here four-and-a-half years," Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan told reporters Wednesday during a stop at Michigan's statehouse.

Levin, who last visited Iraq in October, said American voters in the November congressional election "spoke forcefully" about wanting to change course in the war and gave Democrats power in Congress to accomplish this.

Levin said political reconciliation among Iraq's warring factions was critical to ending the war in Iraq.

"I'm going to try to see if we can't shift the attention of the American people from the report on the military situation to a report on the political situation since everybody acknowledges that it's the failure of the political arena and the political areas that are the cause of the ongoing violence in Iraq," Levin said.

The White House has said there have been significant results following a major U.S. troop buildup aimed at combating militant fighters in Iraq. But U.S. lawmakers and the Bush administration have also criticized Iraq's leaders for what they say is little progress on the political reconciliation front.

Levin has said the troop build-up could not be considered a success because its purpose was to make way for political reconciliation, and that has not happened.


http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/15/america/NA-GEN-US-Iraq-Senator-Visit.php

[lovuian]

1. good

its about time

[spanone]

2. k&R

[babylonsister]

3. I'm glad someone's doing SOMETHING! nt