Meeting Goals in Iraq

Cheney: U.S. Close To Meeting Goals In Iraq, (USA Today)…Wire reports, Jan 5, 2009

 WASHINGTON — Vice President Cheney said Sunday that the United States is accomplishing its aims in Iraq. Interviewed on CBS’ Face the Nation, Cheney offered a spirited defense of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, of which he was a top advocate.

“We are close to achieving most of our objectives. We have a significant reduction in the overall level of violence,” Cheney said.

The vice president, who leaves office in two weeks, also cited as successes the removal of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, a new Iraqi constitution, elections and a recent U.S.-Iraqi agreement. It gives the Iraqi government the lead role in providing security for the country and calls for a U.S. military withdrawal by 2011.

“All of these things by anybody’s standards would be evidence of significant success,” Cheney said.

In a recent series of farewell interviews, Cheney has been defending the decision to invade Iraq and the subsequent U.S. occupation. More than 4,200 U.S. servicemembers have died in the nearly 6-year-old war.

Cheney acknowledged pre-war intelligence that concluded Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was wrong. Still, he argued that Saddam had the technology, the personnel and the desire to build such weapons again.

Asked if the violent insurgency that followed the 2003 invasion could have been avoided if the United States had deployed more troops, Cheney said the administration had failed to take into account a post-Saddam power vacuum where no Iraqi was willing to take charge and maintain order.

“There weren’t any Iraqis early on who were willing to stand up and take responsibility for their own affairs,” he said. “So I would chalk that up to miscalculation.”