FAUX NEWS HEADLINE

Sens. Warner and Levin Travel to Iraq, Praise Surge Results
Monday, August 20, 2007

Given that headline, you'd think that both senators were all smiley-faced about Iraq but if you read the accompanying article, you'd see that that isn't so:

WASHINGTON — After a brief trip to Iraq, Sen. Carl Levin said Monday that the Iraqi Parliament should vote no confidence in the government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki because of its sectarian nature and leadership.

"The Maliki government is non-functional," Levin, D-Mich., said in a conference call with reporters.

"We remain concerned, however, that in the absence of overall national political reconciliation, we may be inadvertently helping to create another militia which will have to be dealt with in the future," the two said.

Speaking with reporters, Levin said he hopes when the Parliament reconvenes in the next few weeks, it will dissolve the government, which he said "cannot produce a political settlement because it is too beholden to sectarian leaders."

Levin said "broad frustration" exists across Iraq and within the Bush administration with al-Maliki, and he noted that the Iraqi constitution provides that 25 members of Parliament can sign a petition to hold this vote.

Levin and Warner said that during their meetings they had few reassurances that the Iraqi government will be able to cooperate in any meaningful way.

Despite progress being made on the military side of the surge, Sen Levin said that without political progress the military successes won't add up to much. "There is consensus: there is no military solution to the conflict," Levin said.