Obama ridicules Cheney's version of UK troops pull out

Democratic US presidential candidate Barack Obama ridiculed Vice President Dick Cheney for saying Britain’s decision to pull troops from Iraq is a good sign that fits with the strategy for stabilising the country.

Speaking at a massive outdoor rally in Austin, Texas, Obama said UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s decision this week to withdraw 1,600 troops is a recognition that Iraq’s problems cannot be solved militarily.

“Now if Tony Blair can understand that, then why can’t George Bush and Dick Cheney understand that?” Obama told thousands of supporters who came out in the rain to hear him speak.

“In fact, Dick Cheney said this is all part of the plan, (and) it was a good thing that Tony Blair was withdrawing, even as the administration is preparing to put 20,000 more of our young men and women in.

“Now, keep in mind, this is the same guy that said we’d be greeted as liberators, the same guy that said that we’re in the last throes. I’m sure he forecast sun today,” Obama said to laughter from supporters holding campaign signs over the heads in an effort to keep dry.

“When Dick Cheney says it’s a good thing, you know that you’ve probably got some big problems.”

Cheney was travelling in Australia at the time, and his office did not immediately respond to the criticism.

Cheney told ABC News this week that Blair’s announcement was good news.

“I look at it and see it is actually an affirmation that there are parts of Iraq where things are going pretty well,” Cheney said.

He said he had talked recently with a friend who drove seven hours from Baghdad to Basra and “found the situation dramatically improved from a year or so ago, sort of validated the British view they had made progress in southern Iraq and that they can therefore reduce their force levels.”

Obama’s Austin appearance was part of a campaign swing across the country to raise money for his two-week old candidacy and build his reputation nationally.

Obama, whose father was Kenyan and his mother American, was born in Hawaii and is a US senator from Illinois.