Levin: Obama, not McChrystal, calls shots on strategy in Afghanistan war

General Stanley McChrystal should not have the final say on U.S. strategy going forward in Afghanistan, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said Sunday.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), the chairman of that committee overseeing the country's military engagements abroad, emphasized the importance of McChrystal's impending recommendations on Afghan policy, but noted that policy makers should not unilaterally defer to him.

"Everyone should want the benefit of General McChrystal's comments and recommendations, but with two caveats," Levin said during an appearance Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union with John King."

"He's just in the chain of command, and there's higher-ups," Levin said. "This is not a situation like General Petraeus in Iraq, when the president basically said, whatever the commander in Iraq wants, he's going to get."

Levin was making reference to the Bush administration's strong deference to Gen. David Petraeus's determinations while he was commander of allied troops in Iraq. McChrystal serves a similar role in charge of troops in Afghanistan.

McChrystal has been working on a report recommending a revamped strategy in Afghanistan long anticipated by the Obama administration and lawmakers.

Levin made clear a belief that it should be Obama who makes the final call on policy there.

"That delegation of responsibility from the commander in chief to the commander in the field has not been made by the president, and I don't think it should be made," he said.