Politics

Cheney brings his message to MacDill

He echoes the president's optimism on the war in Iraq.

By JANET ZINK, Times Staff Writer
Published September 15, 2007

TAMPA - Vice President Dick Cheney kept up the drumbeat of support Friday for the war on terrorism by trying to rally the men and women at the epicenter of war-planning efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"America has accepted a duty that is hard and honorable and worth completing," Cheney said during a 25-minute speech at the MacDill Air Force Base movie theater packed with members of Central Command, Special Operations Command and the 6th Air Mobility Wing.

"All of you here at CentCom are doing the right thing, in the right way, and at the right time," he said.

Although earlier this week Gen. David Petraeus said he didn't know if the nation was more secure as a result of the efforts in Iraq, Cheney told the troops: "Your success will make our nation more secure."

The day after President Bush made a case for his strategy in Iraq in a nationally televised speech, Cheney said troop withdrawals would be based on conditions in the country and recommendations from Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.

"President Bush will make his decisions based on the national interest and nothing else - not by artificial measures, not based on political calculations, and not based on the polls," he said.

Without making any direct link between the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and Iraq, Cheney invoked that day's tragedy as justification for the U.S. war effort.

"Our world really did change six years ago," he said. "We were a sovereign nation under attack, entitled to defend ourselves."

Cheney said the terrorists had been emboldened when the United States pulled out of Beirut in 1983 and Somalia in 1993 after attacks on American troops, and more attacks followed in Saudi Arabia, Kenya and Yemen.

"The terrorists have been at war with the United States for a long time. And after 9/11 this nation made a decision: We are at war with them," he said. "This is a long-term commitment, not a passing issue. There will be no running, or relenting, until the problem has been dealt with."

Cheney said that to stop such terrorism, America needs to bring democracy to countries like Iraq and Afghanistan so that people there will "not be drawn to ideologies of hatred and violence."

Strong words

Cheney reiterated points made by President Bush on Thursday- that the troop surge has been successful and that since January American forces have captured or killed about 1,500 enemies a month and seized enemy weapons.

He also touted political successes of Iraq's national leaders, including the passage of a budget and the sharing of oil revenues.

Cheney said that progress means a gradual reduction of troops can begin.

But using much stronger words than Bush, Cheney described terrorists around the world as enemies who reject "the rules of warfare" and consider "mercy and respect for innocent life signs of weakness."

He pledged that the United States will keep its commitment in Iraq "because we understand the consequences of getting out before the job is done. A precipitous withdrawal from Iraq would validate al-Qaida's belief that we lack the stomach for the fight" and undermine the "global war on terror."

At MacDill, Cheney faced an audience of hundreds of military men and women.

Among the civilians: Rep. C.W. Bill Young, R-Indian Shores, whom Cheney addressed from the stage.

Voices of dissent

The vice president said Young was one of his closest allies on Capitol Hill, and is "looking out for the forces, making certain that we have the resources we need to defend the nation."

But in a prepared statement released Friday, Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, questioned the wisdom of using those resources at the expense of health for children and seniors and investment in U.S. cities.

"The American people want to know ... how much longer, how many billions of dollars more," she said. "A war without a definite end or comprehensive plan is not in America's best interest."

Megan Foster, a member of the Tampa chapter of Democracy for America and a volunteer for Barack Obama's presidential bid, said she doesn't buy the Bush administration's claims that progress in Iraq is the reason for bringing the troops home.

"It's a smokescreen they're trying to pass by the American people," she said, noting that the proposed withdrawal will only return the number of troops in Iraq to pre-surge levels. "What the Bush administration is doing is lying skillfully. I'm thinking the American public's not buying it."

Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 226-3401.

[Last modified September 19, 2007, 10:15:13]