Sen. Levin crafts Afghan compromise

Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin is emerging as a pivotal player in the debate over Afghanistan, with the lawmaker's plan to speed the training of Afghan security forces drawing growing support within the White House and the Pentagon. Three U.S. officials familiar with the Obama administration's deliberations over Afghanistan said Sen. Levin's proposal is attracting high-level backing and could form the core of a compromise approach to the conflict. Sen. Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wants to send as many as several thousand additional U.S. military trainers to Afghanistan while refocusing the broader U.S. mission there on mentoring the Afghan army and national police. The proposal could also give the administration a face-saving way to reject Gen. Stanley McChrystal's call for 40,000 new troops and instead choose to send a comparatively small contingent of American reinforcements to Afghanistan.