MORE POLITICS PLAYING WITH NATIONAL SECURITY

   Intoxicated with his power as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin interfered with other military promotions. He blocked the appointment of Peter Flory, a well qualified public servant nominated to be Assistant Secretary for International Security Policy. Why? Because Senator Levin despised Mr. Flory’s boss, our friend Douglas Feith.

Carl Levin also blocked the appointments of two other key individuals: Eric Edelman, nominated to be the undersecretary of defense for policy, and Benjamin Powell, nominated for a position at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. According to National Review, “none of them face[d] any substantive objections from Democrats.” But that didn’t stop Senator Levin from derailing their nominations for no good reason. These delays undermined crucial intelligence-gathering efforts on the part of the administration.