Cheney Defends Acting on Iraq Nuclear Warnings

Pounding on points likely to be disputed in the coming presidential election campaign, Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday that it would have been “irresponsible in the extreme” to ignore U.S. intelligence warnings that Saddam Hussein was reconstituting Iraq’s nuclear program.

In a speech at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank with more than 20 alumni now serving in the Bush administration, Cheney issued a challenge to critics who have accused the government of exaggerating intelligence to boost public support for the war in Iraq.

“At a safe remove from the danger, some are now trying to cast doubt upon the decision to liberate Iraq ... ,” Cheney said. “But those who do so have an obligation to answer this question: How could any responsible leader have ignored the Iraqi threat?”

Cheney’s speech to administration loyalists, one of his rare non-fund-raising appearances, came at a time when he has been urging Republican leaders to do a better job of defending the president on Iraq. Recently, instead of dwelling on Baghdad’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction, the administration has begun stressing Hussein’s tyranny, the discovery of mass graves, and the promise of a democratic Iraq as a beacon to other Middle East nations.

Cheney cited a National Intelligence Estimate submitted in October, which concluded Baghdad had chemical and biological arms and that “if left unchecked, it probably will have a nuclear weapon during this decade.” He said the intelligence summary, produced by half a dozen U.S. intelligence agencies, also reported a high degree of confidence that “Iraq could make a nuclear weapon in months to a year once it acquires sufficient weapons-grade fissile material.”

Cheney did not mention the claim that has caused the administration the most grief, that Hussein was trying to purchase such fissile material from Africa. Both a senior National Security Council official and CIA Director George J. Tenet have apologized for allowing the claim, for which the CIA deemed there was insufficient evidence, to be included in President Bush’s State of the Union address.

Administration officials have offered conflicting accounts of why the 16 words that expressed the claim ended up in the January speech, and have sought, so far unsuccessfully, to put the matter to rest. Members of Congress have questioned Cheney’s own comments on Iraq’s weapons programs.

On March 19, as the U.S. was preparing to go to war, Cheney said Iraq had nuclear weapons --and that the chief U.N. nuclear inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, had erred in saying Iraq had not reconstituted its nuclear program.

“We know that he has been absolutely devoted to trying to acquire nuclear weapons,” Cheney said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “And we think he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons. I think Mr. ElBaradei, frankly, is wrong.”

On Thursday, playing to Bush’s perceived strengths at a time when polls show his popularity is falling, Cheney repeatedly lauded Bush for acting “decisively” and “forcefully” to protect U.S. security following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“Ignoring such information or trying to wish it away would be irresponsible in the extreme,” Cheney said. “And our president did not ignore that information. He faced it. He sought to eliminate the threat by peaceful diplomatic means, and when all else failed, he acted forcefully to remove the danger.

“President Bush was not willing to place the future of our security and the lives of our citizens at the mercy of Saddam Hussein,” he said.

Cheney was unapologetic in defending the Bush administration’s controversial doctrine of preemptive action, by military means if necessary, against perceived terrorist threats.

“Having lost thousands of Americans on a single morning, we are not going to answer further danger by simply issuing a diplomatic protest or sharply worded condemnations,” Cheney said. “We will not wait in false comfort while terrorists plot against innocent Americans -- we will act, and act decisively, before gathering threats can inflict catastrophic harm on the American people.”

The administration will make good on its commitments to rebuild Afghanistan and Iraq just as the U.S. did in Germany and Japan following World War II, Cheney said. “It was a good investment for America then. It is just as wise now,” he said.