No Democrat has been more effective in leading the charge against the Iraq War than Michigan's Carl Levin. From his perch on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and Armed Services Committee, Levin has exploited every opportunity to turn Americans against the war. And his task has been made easier by the Bush administration's weak performance in countering the spin put out by Levin and his friends in the media. On this score, I'm still hoping Secretary Rumsfeld, who swiftly and effectively counterattacked his uniformed critics a short time ago, will hold a press conference or give a speech forcefully challenging at length the following statements constantly by made anti-war critics like Levin: 1) Saddam Hussein wasn't a threat. 2) Iraq had no link to al Qaeda. 3) Iraq's connection to terrorism, in general, was insignificant. 4) UN inspections were working before they were short-circuited. 5) The Duelfer report, in fact, proved that containment was working and such a policy should have continued. 6) We'd be better off if Saddam were still in power. With the Armed Services Committee set to hold hearings on Haditha, look for Levin to use what happened there as an indictment of the entire war. Here's what he said yesterday on National Public Radio:
A separate probe into the actual killings, is being carried out by the Navy's Criminal Investigative Service. Carl Levin, who's the top Democrat on the Armed Services panel, said those investigations need to be wrapped up soon. Senator CARL LEVIN (Democrat, Michigan): My belief is that they will be completed promptly because of the public concern in this matter, and because of the long delay in beginning it…. WELNA: But Michigan Democrat Levin says there's no doubt Haditha is bound to affect American's view of the Iraq war. Sen. LEVIN: I think the support for the war has been declining, seriously, and that this will just probably add to what already was taking place - which was a real loss of public support for the war.
Forget due process, Levin is chomping at the bit for hearings. By his calculus, the more "public support for the war" diminishes the better chance his policy of "withdrawal timetables" will prevail. It'd be nice if someone on the Committee stood up to Levin's charade but I'm not holding my breath.