Cheney criticises Democrats over Iraq comments

US Vice President Dick Cheney is adding his voice to the chorus of Republican criticism of Democrats who have accused the Bush administration of manipulating intelligence to justify war against Iraq.

“One of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired in this city,” the vice president said in a speech to the Frontiers of Freedom Institute, a conservative policy group based in Virginia.

“Some of the most irresponsible comments have, of course, come from politicians who actually voted in favour of authorising force against Saddam Hussein,” Cheney said.

Democrats shot back immediately, with the party’s 2004 presidential nominee, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, saying “it is hard to name a government official with less credibility on Iraq” than Cheney.

The attack was part of an effort by Bush’s Republican Party to push back against criticism on Iraq.

In the past week, Bush has made two speeches that painted Democrats as hypocrites for criticising the Iraq war after earlier supporting the idea that Saddam, Iraq’s then president, had to go.

During a press conference today in Gyeongju, South Korea, Bush was asked about Cheney’s comments. “I agree with the vice president,” Bush said.

“I think people ought to be allowed to ask questions,” the president said. “It is irresponsible to say that I deliberately misled the American people.”

Yesterday, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld joined the offensive, singling out Democrats who in the past had depicted Saddam as a threat with weapons of mass destruction, including former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

The Republican National Committee also posted on its website a video compilation of past statements by prominent Democrats supporting a hard line against Saddam.

“These are elected officials who had access to the intelligence and were free to draw their own conclusions. They arrived at the same judgment about Iraq’s capabilities and intentions that was made by this administration and by the previous administration,” Cheney said.

He said there was “broad-based, bipartisan agreement that Saddam Hussein was a threat, that he had violated UN Security Council Resolutions” and had weapons of mass destruction.

Democrats have countered by saying they got their information on US intelligence assessments about Saddam’s regime from the administration and suggested that top administration figures – including Cheney, a staunch advocate of Saddam’s removal – manipulated that intelligence to make a stronger case for invasion.

In October 2002, the Senate voted 77 to 23 to give Bush the authority to invade Iraq. The House approved the measure on a 296-to-133 vote.

In the senate, 29 Democrats voted for the measure, including Senators John Kerry of Massachusetts, John Edwards of North Carolina and Hillary Clinton of New York.

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee and Edwards, his running mate, have since reversed their positions. Clinton has remained supportive of the president on Iraq.

“What we’re hearing now is some politicians contradicting their own statements and making a play for political advantage in the middle of a war,” Cheney said in remarks prepared for a speech at the Frontiers of Freedom Institute’s 2005 Ronald Reagan gala.

“The saddest part is that our people in uniform have been subjected to these cynical and pernicious falsehoods day in and day out,” he said.

Kerry responded by saying Cheney “continues to mislead America about how we got into Iraq and what must be done to complete the still unaccomplished mission”.