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Cheney: Success in Iraq Critical to Overall Terror War
American Forces Press Service ^ | Donna Miles

Posted on 03/19/2006 9:21:53 AM PST by SandRat

WASHINGTON, March 19, 2006 – Vice President Dick Cheney said today the evidence that Iraqis and coalition will succeed in Iraq "is overwhelming" and that it's important, when assessing the situation there, to keep perspective of its impact on the global war on terror. Speaking on CBS' "Face the Nation," on the third anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the vice president said terrorists recognize what some others don't: that what ultimately happens in Iraq will impact the entire region.

"There's a lot at stake here. It's not just about Iraq...[and] today's situation in Iraq," Cheney said. "It's about where we are going to be 10 years from now in the Middle East."

The outcome will determine "whether or not there is going to be hope and the development of governments that are responsive to the will of the people, that are not a threat to anyone, that are not safe havens for terror [and] manufacturers of weapons of mass destruction," he said.

On the other hand, if terrorists succeed, there's a very real danger that Iraq will become "a failed state," Cheney said, just as Afghanistan was several years ago under Taliban rule. That environment offered a safe haven to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and a base for launching terror attacks against the United States and its allies around the world, he noted.

By going after terrorists in Iraq and elsewhere around the world, the United States is ensuring its own long-term security, the vice president said. "That kind of aggressive, forward-leaning strategy is one of the main reasons we haven't been struck since 9/11--because we have taken the fight to them," he said.

Violence continues in Iraq because terrorists recognize what's at stake, Cheney said. "They know that if we're successful in establishing a democratic government in Iraq, that's going to put enormous pressure in that part of the world...[because] it offers a counter to the bloody ideology that the al Qaeda organizations have tried to perpetrate," he said.

Recent efforts to incite sectarian violence show terrorists have "reached a stage of desperation," the vice president said. "It's a reflection of the fact that they are doing everything they can to stop the formation of a democratically elected government," he said.

Cheney noted that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of al Qaeda in Iraq, was quoted two years ago saying that if the Iraqis ever achieved that goal, "that he would have to pack his bags and go elsewhere."

"And I think that's absolutely the case," the vice president said.

Media reporting underplays progress being made in Iraq, Cheney said, "because what is newsworthy is a car bomb in Baghdad, not all the work that went on that day in 15 other provinces in terms of making progress toward rebuilding Iraq."

"But the facts are pretty straightforward," with solid progress taking place on the political and security fronts, the vice president said.

"The Iraqis met every single political deadline that's been set for them," he said. "They have not missed a single one." And while progress might not be as speedy as many people would like, Cheney noted that the United States had its own share of difficulties establishing its government more than 200 years ago.

"It is remarkable, when you think about a group of people who have been under the heavy hand of oppression for 35 years under Saddam Hussein-one of the bloodiest dictators in modern times [who] slaughtered thousands of his own people, started two wars, used weapons of mass destruction against his own folks-to emerge as effectively as they have in as short a period as they have," Cheney said.

He cited similar progress on the security front. "We've seen major progress in terms of training and equipping Iraqi security forces," he said. "They've been very successful...and it continues to improve day by day."

Cheney said he's confident that this progress will continue and that the Iraqis and coalition will ultimately succeed in Iraq. "I think the evidence is overwhelming," he said.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 3rdanniversary; cheney; critical; gwot; iraq; overall; success; terror; vp; war
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1 posted on 03/19/2006 9:21:57 AM PST by SandRat
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To: 2LT Radix jr; 68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub; 80 Square Miles; A Ruckus of Dogs; acad1228; AirForceMom; ..
We’re at WAR!
Now Let’s Win it!

2 posted on 03/19/2006 9:22:35 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: SandRat

I heartily agree. So pour it on. No half measures. Git it done.


3 posted on 03/19/2006 9:27:37 AM PST by yldstrk (My heros have always been cowboys-Reagan and Bush)
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To: SandRat
It's not just about Iraq...[and] today's situation in Iraq," Cheney said. "It's about where we are going to be 10 years from now in the Middle East.

I don't understand why some people just don't get it.

4 posted on 03/19/2006 9:30:37 AM PST by freeperfromnj
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To: SandRat
I saw the interview......

Cheney should be out there giving Bush's speeches.....

5 posted on 03/19/2006 9:33:26 AM PST by CROSSHIGHWAYMAN (Toon Town, Iran...........where reality is the real fantasy.)
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To: freeperfromnj
some people don't get it because they are duh-duh-duh-dumb! For them there is but one thing to give them and it's this


6 posted on 03/19/2006 9:34:06 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: CROSSHIGHWAYMAN

Agreed! Trouble is getting the alphabetSpews to report it accurately.


7 posted on 03/19/2006 9:35:39 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: SandRat
Success in Iraq Critical to Overall Terror War

...which is why the liberal moonbats and their lapdog media are doing everything they can to kill public support. They desperately need new scenes of Americans fleeing amid jeering natives throwing tomatoes. The video and pictures of the evacuation of Hanoi are 30 years old. The liberals badly need new material.

8 posted on 03/19/2006 9:35:51 AM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity ("Sharpei diem - Seize the wrinkled dog.")
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To: Excuse_My_Bellicosity

They needed new material back then too!


9 posted on 03/19/2006 9:37:13 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: freeperfromnj
I don't understand why some people just don't get it.

Three years is a long time. The administration did not anticipate this....clearly.

The longer the war goes on, the more damage it's doing to the President.

No surprise.

10 posted on 03/19/2006 10:14:59 AM PST by zarf (It's time for a college football playoff system.)
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To: SandRat

BTTT


11 posted on 03/19/2006 10:32:33 AM PST by E.G.C.
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To: SandRat
What credibility does Cheney have? It has been three years now and still no end in sight. For years the administration has been overly optimistic or wrong. We have already spent 224 Billion of American taxpayer's dollars and will have spent over 320 BILLION by year's end. Our nation is even more deeply in debt. America has suffered 18,000+ casualties and American blood continues to flow. Due to our Iraq commitment, we are limited in our use of force against Iran.

Though I trusted the administration from the beginning, I no longer drink their Kool Aid. Pat Buchanan has been right on this war all along.
12 posted on 03/19/2006 10:41:30 AM PST by MBB1984
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To: freeperfromnj

"I don't understand why some people just don't get it."

Because the folks who don't get it have the mind's eye view of the world that everyon in every culture can be reasoned with, and that their (our dopey left) view is the only one that's correct.

Fatal error.


13 posted on 03/19/2006 10:55:10 AM PST by roaddog727 (P=3/8 A. or, P=plenty...............)
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To: MBB1984; StarCMC
??

Are you competing for the prize today with purpleland???? You even had to plagerize from purpleland on another thread almost down to his exact words and paragraph structure.

 

Remember this:

  We’re at WAR!
Now Let’s Win it!

14 posted on 03/19/2006 10:58:46 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: SandRat
"That kind of aggressive, forward-leaning strategy is one of the main reasons we haven't been struck since 9/11--because we have taken the fight to them," he said."

BTTT!!!!!

15 posted on 03/19/2006 11:01:10 AM PST by StarCMC (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing...thank you Sarge.)
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To: MBB1984; SandRat; freeperfromnj; Coop; MikefromOhio; Allegra
Speaking of signs...

HEY MBB1984 -

I'm sure what you REALLY meant to say was

 

16 posted on 03/19/2006 11:06:19 AM PST by StarCMC (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing...thank you Sarge.)
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To: SandRat; Old Sarge

GMTA!


17 posted on 03/19/2006 11:06:56 AM PST by StarCMC (All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing...thank you Sarge.)
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To: StarCMC

HOOO-AAAAH!!!

Now to get rid of this cold/flu/allergy whatever. Yuuuuccccckk!!!!


18 posted on 03/19/2006 11:10:26 AM PST by SandRat (Duty, Honor, Country. What else needs to be said?)
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To: MBB1984
Due to our Iraq commitment, we are limited in our use of force against Iran.

Well not to burst your bubble, but we arent going to Iran. Iraq has proved to be quite enough to handle for our military, and Iran, well...they chose their own "Revolution" in 79. They can deal with it themselves.

19 posted on 03/19/2006 11:11:21 AM PST by Windsong (Jesus Saves, but Buddha makes incremental backups)
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To: MBB1984
Step aside then, if you have lost heart and your will.

In America when one man falls to the enemy, another steps up to take his place.

But while your lying there don't shout for others to join your lame rationalizations that they enemy is "winning" because they are targeting women and children in the marketplace.
20 posted on 03/19/2006 11:15:49 AM PST by roses of sharon
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