Cheney Says "Main Battle In Iraq" Against Al Qaeda
Cheney says 'main battle in Iraq' against al Qaeda
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Cheney...Iraq_0806.html
Nick Juliano
Published: Monday August 6, 2007
Vice President Dick Cheney continued to argue that America's enemy in Iraq is predominantly from international terror group al Qaeda, rather than homegrown insurgents.
"The main battle in Iraq today is against al Qaeda," Cheney told an audience of Marines and veterans at their annual convention. He cited military estimates that 80 to 90 percent of "suicide attacks" in Iraq were carried out by foreign-born Qaeda fighters.
Cheney noted that al Qaeda in Iraq was founded by Jordanian Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who previously ran a terror training camp in Afghanistan before the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. The vice president noted Zarqawi entered Iraq "after 9/11," but neglected to mention that it also was not until after the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003 that Zarqawi began ushering foreign fighters into the country.
"Al Qaeda in Iraq is a group founded by foreign terrorists," Cheney said. "The leaders of this group have been the primary enemy of this country since the day we began fighting this global conflict."
In what appeared to be a veiled swipe at Democratic calls for withdrawing some or all US troops from Iraq, Cheney implored his audience to consider the effects of a "retreat strategy" on the War on Terror.
He said that because al Qaeda has infiltrated Iraq, the United States must continue to fight them there.
"If you support the war on terror, then you ought to support it where the terrorists are fighting us," he said.
Cheney, who received five draft deferments to avoid fighting in the Vietnam War, was the second choice for the Marine Corps League's 84th National Convention in Albuquerque, N.M. The league originally invited President Bush, but he was unable to appear because he is spending the day with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at Camp David.
