Cheney grabs GOP cudgel

VP hits the road to attack Democrats
By Mark Silva, Washington Bureau.

Tribune staff reporter John McCormick in Chicago contributed to this reportPublished August 19, 2006

WASHINGTON -- With Republicans facing increasingly tough prospects in November, Vice President Dick Cheney has returned to the campaign trail in a familiar role: Accusing Democratic war critics of defeatism and leveling harsh charges that President Bush is less comfortable making.

"If we follow advice and withdraw from Iraq," Cheney said this week in Arizona, "we will simply validate the Al Qaeda strategy and invite more terrorist attacks." Advocates of withdrawal play into the hands of terrorists, he charged the next day in Montana: "They fundamentally believe that we don't have the stomach for the fight."

As the war debate intensifies--with the White House insisting on staying the course and Democrats increasingly demanding an exit strategy--it is becoming a pivotal issue in many races.

In Chicago, where the Democratic National Committee was meeting Friday, top Democrats ridiculed Cheney's attacks. Calling the comments a " rear-guard action," committee member Harold Ickes, formerly an aide to President Bill Clinton, said that "the Middle East is in more chaos than it ever was. That's the issue the Democrats need to raise."

Link Here