Levin Says Congress Can Force Iraqis to Pay More of War Costs

By Ken Fireman

April 11 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Carl Levin said that while the Democratic-controlled Congress can't force a change in U.S. President George W. Bush's Iraq policy, it can compel the Iraqis to pay a greater share of the war's costs.

Levin, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, said Senate Democrats have repeatedly failed to attract enough Republicans to meet a 60-vote requirement to force Bush to pull more troops out of Iraq.

What is now possible is passing legislation requiring Iraq's oil-rich government to increase its funding of reconstruction and troop training, Levin said. Iraq spends about $9 billion a year on security, an amount roughly equal to what the U.S. spends in one month on the conflict.

Raising Iraq's share ``is something we can do,'' said Levin, 73, a Michigan Democrat, in an interview on Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital with Al Hunt'' to be aired today. ``We have the votes because there are enough Republicans who would join us on this.''

Levin also predicted that a dispute between his state's Democratic Party and national party leaders over Michigan's delegation to the presidential-nominating convention will be resolved ``at least a month'' before Democrats meet in Denver on Aug. 25.

During congressional hearings on Iraq this week, Levin and other lawmakers in both parties repeatedly criticized the Iraqi government for failing to use its oil profits to pay a greater share of war costs -- and the Bush administration for not forcing them to do so.

Dispute Over Funding

In the interview, Levin said both Bush and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker were wrong when they asserted that the U.S. was ending its funding of Iraqi reconstruction projects.

On the same day this week that Crocker made that statement to the armed services panel, Levin said, the Defense Department notified the committee that it was transferring an additional $600 million into reconstruction projects, including 55 new police stations.

``I want them to pay for the reconstruction costs; they ought to pay for the training of their troops,'' Levin said of the Iraqis. He added later: ``American taxpayers are not only paying the $12 billion a month to run the war, we are paying more for Iraqi reconstruction than they are.''

On another Iraq issue, Levin suggested that the Democratic National Committee and the party's presidential candidates might be distorting the views of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona, by charging that McCain wants to keep U.S. troops in Iraq for as long as 100 years.

Interpreting McCain

Levin said that ``the better interpretation, the fairer interpretation'' of McCain's position is that he is willing to keep American forces in Iraq for ``an unlimited period of time.''

He said McCain's comment about the possibility of staying there for 100 years referred to a situation where the violence had ended and U.S. forces were garrisoned there to help keep the peace, such as they have done in South Korea.

Turning to another political issue, Levin said the blame for the dispute over Michigan's convention delegates rested with national party leaders.

The DNC stripped Michigan and Florida of their delegates to the national convention because both states held their presidential primaries before Feb. 5 in defiance of the national committee's rules. The DNC adopted the rule to preserve the traditional role of Iowa and New Hampshire as the first states to choose their delegates.

Sticking Point

The status of the two delegations is a sticking point between the two rivals for the Democratic nomination, Senators Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois.

Clinton won the primaries in both states, although neither candidate campaigned in Michigan or Florida and Obama took his name off the ballot in Michigan. Clinton now supports seating the two delegations; Obama disagrees.

While saying that he expected the dispute to be resolved well before the convention, Levin didn't specify what the solution might be. He said Michigan Democrats were prepared to take the issue to the convention and ask the credentials committee to seat the state's delegation.

``I don't think either candidate wants a floor fight,'' he said.

Levin, who is neutral in the Democratic presidential race, said he hasn't decided whether Obama or Clinton would be the stronger candidate in the November general election.

``If I knew the answer to that question, I would be for one or the other,'' Levin said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ken Fireman in Washington at kfireman1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 11, 2008 12:59 EDT

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