TASEK PAUH blogspot

Washington, January 25 – Vice President Cheney said Wednesday it’s “hogwash” to suggest the Bush administration’s credibility is on the line because of mistakes in Iraq.

Cheney (picture left from CNN.com) acknowledged the situation in Iraq was very unstable but said toppling Saddam Hussein had been the right thing to do.

He said he trusts Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whom he said had demonstrated a willingness to take on lawbreakers regardless of their religious or ethnic affiliations.

“The critics have not suggested a policy – they haven’t put anything in place,” Cheney said in an occasionally testy interview with CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer.

“All they’ve recommended is to redeploy or to withdraw our forces. The fact is, we can complete the task in Iraq. We’re going to do it. We’ve got (Lt. Gen. David) Petraeus – Gen. Petraeus taking over. It is a good strategy. It will work. But we have to have the stomach to finish the task.”

Cheney bristled when asked to respond to critics who question his daughter Mary’s decision to have a baby and raise it with her female partner. “I think you’re out of line with that question,” replied Cheney, who said he was delighted about having a sixth grandchild.

Cheney said he does not think Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York would make a very good president “because she’s a Democrat.”

“I don’t agree with her philosophically and from a policy standpoint,” he said.

Cheney said he believes Osama bin Laden is alive, but would not speculate about whether he might be hiding in Afghanistan, Pakistan or along their shared border.

Cheney said passage of a Senate resolution opposing President Bush’s decision to send more troops to Iraq would not change the administration’s new strategy in Iraq. Associated Press

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