Cheney hits Democrats on war tack

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Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday accused Democrats of "corrupt and shameless" revisionism on the Iraq war and called their demands for a pullout "self-defeating pessimism."

"It is a dangerous illusion to suppose that another retreat by the civilized world would satisfy the appetite of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone," Mr. Cheney said in a blistering speech to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"A precipitous withdrawal from Iraq would be a victory for the terrorists, an invitation to further violence against free nations and a terrible blow to the future security of the United States of America," he said.

Also yesterday, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said in Rye Brook, N.Y., that an immediate U.S. withdrawal would be "a big mistake."

"I think that would cause more problems for us in America," she said. "It will matter to us if Iraq totally collapses into civil war, if it becomes a failed state the way Afghanistan was, where terrorists are free to basically set up camp and launch attacks against us."

Mr. Cheney and Mrs. Clinton were responding to last week's call by Rep. John P. Murtha, Pennsylvania Democrat, to begin withdrawing immediately America's more than 150,000 troops from Iraq and to complete the pullout within six months.

Yesterday, the vice president countered, "I disagree with Jack and believe his proposal would not serve the best interests of this nation."

In an appearance later yesterday on CNN, Mr. Murtha stood by his stance, but played down the personal angle, saying of Mr. Cheney, "We are old friends. But he hasn't called me up, but I'm sure he will.

"I'm convinced that he will come around to my position," he added. "This war cannot be won militarily. We have to turn it over to the Iraqis."

Mr. Cheney devoted much of yesterday's speech to denouncing Senate Democrats who have accused the president of distorting prewar intelligence to justify the invasion of Iraq.