WASHINGTON, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- Sen. Carl Levin, the likely head of the Armed Services Committee, said Monday that he hopes the Bush administration is open to a change in Iraq strategy.
Most Democrats support a phased withdrawal that would begin in four to six months, the Michigan Democrat said. A timetable would pressure the Iraqi government to take responsibility for curbing sectarian violence.
"We cannot save the Iraqis from themselves," he said. "We've been told repeatedly by our top uniform military leaders that there is no purely military solution in Iraq; there is only a political solution in Iraq."
Other Democratic priorities include rebuilding the U.S. military, examining the effort in Afghanistan and providing greater oversight. Levin said that the Republican majority in Congress had failed to meet its responsibilities.
"They have too often been a rubber stamp for administration policies and too often been unwilling to probe the inadequacies, the shortfalls and the failures of administration practices and policies," he said.
