Vice President Dick Cheney reaffirmed the Bush administration's commitment to the war in Iraq on a brief visit to Japan that ended Thursday. Cheney told troops at a U.S. naval base near Tokyo that America would not relent in Iraq.
"We want to complete the mission, we want to get it done right, and then we want to come home, with honor," he said. "The American people will not support a policy of retreat."
While in Japan, Cheney criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Rep. John Murtha over their plan to restrict President Bush's request for additional funds for the Iraq war to make it difficult or impossible to send 21,500 extra troops. "I think if we were to do what Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha are suggesting, all we will do is validate the al-Qaida strategy," the vice president told ABC.
Pelosi said Cheney's remarks were "beneath the dignity of the debate" about the war.
