The Foreign Service Journal, February 2007

Levin has stopped short of call- ing for immediate troop with- drawals, but has said redeployment of troops should begin within the next several months. He is likely to offer legislation that would require the United States to start withdraw- ing from Iraq. A similar Levin pro- posal failed in the Senate in 2006, but could now pass under a Demo- cratic majority. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., the top Republican on the Senate Arm- ed Services Committee, is likely to run for president in 2008 and could emerge as the GOP’s most credible crit- ic of pulling troops out of Iraq. The former prisoner of war has blasted the Bush administration for not sending enough troops to stabilize Iraq, and wants at least 20,000 more soldiers and marines sent to quell sectarian vio- lence and challenge powerful militia leaders. Beyond Iraq While the Iraq War will domi- nate the agenda of both chambers’ foreign policy committees, Lantos and Biden are also likely to press the White House for other changes in its diplomacy. Both lawmakers want the U.S. to engage in direct talks with Iran and North Korea — and have not ruled out legislation requiring it. “The nuclear threat posed by North Korea has grown dramatical- ly over the past six years, in part because of the adminis- tration’s unwillingness to engage seriously with the North Korean government. North Korea’s recent missile and nuclear tests have further destabilized the Asia-Pacific region, and heightened the risk of war on the Korean peninsula,” Lantos explains. For his part, Biden believes the United States’ failure F O C U S F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 7 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 25 While the Iraq War will dominate the agenda, Lantos and Biden are also likely to press the White House for other changes in its diplomacy.