Cheney defends war to troops

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FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday told troops who recently returned from Iraq that Democratic calls for a swift pullout of all U.S. forces are "unwise in the extreme."

"To leave that country before the job is done would be to hand Iraq over to car bombers and assassins," he told soldiers at this Army garrison in upstate New York. "That nation would return to the rule of tyrants, become a massive source of instability in the Middle East, and be a staging area for ever-greater attacks against America and other civilized nations."

The remarks prompted applause and shouts of "Hooah," the military's all-purpose expression of approval, from 3,000 members of the 10th Mountain and 42nd Infantry divisions.

Mr. Cheney, who in the 2000 vice presidential campaign squared off against Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, yesterday praised him for rejecting pullout demands by his fellow Democrats, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California and Rep. John P. Murtha of Pennsylvania.

After visiting troops in Iraq last month, Mr. Lieberman said: "Almost all of the progress in Iraq and throughout the Middle East will be lost if those forces are withdrawn faster than the Iraqi military is capable of securing the country."

Mr. Cheney said Mr. Lieberman was "entirely correct."

"We disagreed on some issues, but we stand together on this war," he said.

Mr. Cheney's speech was part of a broad effort by the White House to counter Democrats who have long pilloried the Bush administration's Iraq policy.

"I realize that some have advocated a sudden withdrawal of our forces from Iraq," the vice president said. "That would be unwise in the extreme -- a victory for terrorists, bad for the Iraqi people and bad for the United States."

Still, Mr. Cheney made clear that the U.S. role in Iraq will diminish as Iraqis take greater control of their own security.

"Going forward, we'll have fewer nationwide operations and more specialized operations against the terrorists," he said. "We'll move out of Iraqi cities, reduce the number of bases, and conduct fewer patrols and convoys."

Mr. Cheney's speech came two days after Sen. John Kerry, Massachusetts Democrat, weighed in on U.S. troops in Iraq.

"There is no reason," he told CBS, "that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids."

Although Mr. Cheney did not mention Mr. Kerry's comments, he said U.S. forces are exhibiting "moral courage" in Iraq.

"The United States of America is a good country, a decent country," Mr. Cheney said. "And we are making the world a better place by defending the innocent, confronting the violent and bringing freedom to the oppressed.

"We understand the continuing dangers to civilization," he added. "And we have the resources, the strength and the moral courage to overcome those dangers."