I didn't see this posted here yet:
On Sunday Talk Shows, U.S. Officials Defend Iraq Policy
By THOM SHANKER
ASHINGTON, Sept. 14 — The Bush administration dispatched senior civilian and military officials to blanket the Sunday morning talk shows today and defend its Iraq policy, in particular to deflect charges that it was overly optimistic in planning troop levels and money required to win the peace.
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Vice President Dick Cheney, appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," made the case for the administration's request for an additional $87 billion, the bulk for stabilizing and rebuilding Iraq and some for Afghanistan as well.
"It's all that we think we'll need for the foreseeable future, for this year," Mr. Cheney said. He did not rule out the possibility of subsequent requests for more money.
Throughout the morning, Mr. Cheney, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were quizzed about whether the administration had underestimated the number of troops required to halt the violence against allied forces and the emerging Iraqi government, and how much it would eventually cost.
They also were pressed on whether the threat of Iraq's biological, chemical and nuclear weapons programs, and of Saddam Hussein's ties to terrorist groups, had been oversold to garner public support before the war.
"There's no question but what we've encountered resistance," Mr. Cheney said. "But I don't think anybody expected the time we were there to be absolutely trouble-free."
He said the administration had anticipated "holdover elements from the regime that would fight us and struggle," and had planned for violence from non-Iraqi terrorist cells that would aim its attacks at American forces and United States interests in Iraq.
Mr. Cheney conceded that he had misspoken when, during a television interview last spring, he said Iraq had "reconstituted nuclear weapons," but he expressed confidence that evidence that Mr. Hussein had a program for weapons of mass destruction would be uncovered. He also said he had played no role in securing contracts for the Halliburton Company, which he once led, for projects in postwar Iraq.
Appearing on the CBS News program "Face the Nation," Mr. Rumsfeld said critics of Pentagon policy were rushing to judgment.
"We've been there four and a half months since the end of major military combat," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "Four and a half months is not bogged down, in my view. And there have been truly impressive accomplishments."
Mr. Cheney stood by his previous comments that the people of Iraq would greet the American-led forces as liberators, and not as enemies and occupiers, saying, "I think the majority of Iraqis are thankful for the fact that the United States is there, that we came and we took down the Saddam Hussein government."
Mr. Cheney also echoed President Bush's recent language casting success in Iraq in its broadest terms, as important not only for the Iraqi people but for peace throughout the Middle East and for American national security.
"And whatever the cost is, in terms of casualties or financial resources, it's a whale of a lot less than trying to recover from the next attack in the United States," Mr. Cheney said.
"So what we do on the ground in Iraq, our capabilities here are being tested in no small measure, but this is the place where we want to take on the terrorists," Mr. Cheney said. "This is the place where we want to take on those elements that have come against the United States, and it's far more appropriate for us to do it there and far better for us to do it there than it is here at home."
Mr. Rumsfeld, in his appearance, rejected a characterization that he was stubborn in refusing to send additional American troops to Iraq to help halt the violence, saying that he was acting on the best military judgment of commanders on the ground. But he held out little optimism that another United Nations resolution would inspire wavering nations to contribute significant numbers of additional peacekeepers for Iraq.
Although a number of foreign capitals have said they would not send troops to Iraq without the blessing of the United Nations, Mr. Rumsfeld said that even with another resolution, "My guess is the most we could hope to get for by way of additional international troops would be something between zero or 10,000 and 15,000 — one division."
Senior Democrats, including those seeking their party's nomination for president, also were interviewed today, and harshly criticized the Bush administration for its handling of postwar Iraq.
"What is a miserable failure is the president's inability or unwillingness to get the help we need in Iraq," said Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, in an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."
Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts said on "Face the Nation," that "the $87 billion is the price tag for their arrogance and their miscalculation — and I believe that is continuing."
General Myers, the nation's top military officer, was quizzed in an appearance on the ABC News programs "This Week" about the accuracy of pre-war planning for Iraq.
"Was the planning perfect? No," he said. "Did the planning do a lot of good things in terms of oil well fires and internally displaced people and humanitarian crisis — you know, medical crisis? None of that happened. And I think the planning we did averted a lot of that. But often, as you get into these situations, you're confronted with other things that you don't anticipate." |
