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Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Cheney Defends War, Tax Cuts

By Jeff Jones
Journal Staff Writer
    Vice President Dick Cheney made a Presidents Day stop in New Mexico on Monday to raise more than $200,000 for the Republican presidential campaign and hammer home some of that administration's key positions:
    That the war in Iraq was vital and justified, that the ongoing war on terror is getting results and that President Bush's tax cuts are just the medicine the U.S. economy needs.
    "I want to bring everybody good wishes this morning from NASCAR," Cheney told about 150 supporters who attended the high-dollar fund-raiser at the Albuquerque Marriott Pyramid North— referring to Bush's well-publicized Sunday visit to the Daytona 500 auto race in Florida, where Air Force One buzzed the field and the presidential motorcade made a slow half-lap around the track.
    The Republican faithful who attended Cheney's 15-minute speech plunked down $1,000 for their lunch— and another $1,000 if they wanted a portrait of themselves with the vice president.
    Cheney and his wife, Lynne, did not hang around for lunch with the crowd, and agents were dismantling bulletproof portions of the speaking platform before the dishes hit the tables.
    John Sanchez, southwest regional chairman of the Bush/Cheney re-election campaign, said in an interview that this state will be a focal point. The GOP pair in the 2000 election lost this state by 366 votes.
    "You're going to see a lot of people from the administration" in coming months, Sanchez said after Cheney's speech. "The president is committed to winning New Mexico for many reasons."
    Cheney focused in the first portion of his speech on defense issues and said the past four years have been a time of "serious challenges and hard choices."
    However, he said, "We've got a record of accomplishment to show for our efforts."
    Cheney said U.S. forces in Afghanistan have taken a heavy toll on al-Qaida terrorist forces there, and the 13,000-plus American forces that remain in that country continue their hunt.
    The whereabouts and status of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden remain unknown.
    "Those not yet captured or killed live in fear— and their fears are well-founded," Cheney told the crowd.
    When speaking about Iraq, Cheney did not mention that an intensive search for weapons of mass destruction there has yet to uncover any such weapons. But he said now-captured Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein had the scientists and "necessary infrastructure" for such weapons and was developing "delivery systems" for them.
    Cheney pointed out that Saddam had one other thing: a record of using such weapons on his enemies. That regime in 1988 killed thousands of Kurds in gas attacks.
    "There is no question America did the right thing in Iraq," Cheney said.
    Bush in December announced that Libya had agreed to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction programs. Cheney said it's no coincidence that U.S. talks with that country began shortly after the war began in Iraq and concluded days after Saddam was found hiding in a hole.
    Bush in May 2003 signed the third-largest tax cut in U.S. history. Cheney said Congress should now make Bush's tax cuts permanent, pointing out several indicators that show the economy is on the rebound.
    "Americans are using their money far better than the government would have," Cheney said. "The Bush tax cuts were exactly what this country needed."