posted August 02, 2006 05:43 PM              

N.Y. Sen. Clinton wants face-off with Defense secretary

By DEVLIN BARRETT
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- On the eve of a potentially contentious Senate hearing about the Iraq war, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton urged Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to testify before Congress, saying it's been too long without such an appearance.

Clinton, D-N.Y., is a member of the Armed Services Committee, and while she has criticized the administration's handling of the war, she has not called for Rumsfeld's resignation, as have other prominent Democrats.

"The American people should hear directly from you," Clinton wrote in a letter to Rumsfeld Wednesday, a day before the scheduled hearing.

She urged him to "reconsider your decision to decline testifying," saying "a public appearance before the committee is long overdue."

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The top Republican and Democrat on the committee, Sens. John Warner R-Va., and Carl Levin, D-Mich., asked Rumsfeld in a July 26 letter to appear before the committee, saying they had questions about Iraq, Afghanistan and the recent violence in Lebanon between Israeli forces and Hezbollah.

The panel is scheduled to hear testimony from Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. John Abizaid, who leads Central Command.

"In our democracy, our military comes under civilian control and policy decisions are made by the civilian leadership," Clinton wrote. "At this critical time in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the committee and the American people should hear not only from our military's uniformed leaders but also from you as the top civilian leader."

The senator's own position on Iraq has drawn fire from the anti-war wing of the Democratic party, some of whom argue that her 2002 vote authorizing the war and continued support for the overall mission hurt her chances as a presidential candidate in the Democratic primary in 2008.

At a press briefing Wednesday, Rumsfeld suggested that complaints about his decision could be politically motivated.

"Let's be honest: Politics enters into these things, and maybe the person raising the question is interested in that," said Rumsfeld, without identifying anyone.

The defense secretary said he had testified in the past and was not reluctant to face off against some of the committee's more vocal war critics, including Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.

Kennedy said: "America is in deep trouble in Iraq, yet Secretary Rumsfeld refuses to explain and defend his policies in full public view tomorrow.

"Avoiding a congressional hearing may take the sting out of the process for Secretary Rumsfeld, but it does nothing to reassure the American people or our men and women in uniform that we have a viable policy in Iraq."

Rumsfeld last appeared before the committee on Feb. 7, when he and Pace were questioned about the war's strain on the military.

In the six months since, the number of U.S. troops in Iraq has dipped but now is back up to about 133,000, as part of an effort to quell the violence in Baghdad. The total could exceed 135,000 in the weeks and months ahead.