Candidates Face Off Over Iraq and Security

Here are excerpts from Tuesday’s debate between Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic challenger Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. Associated Press provided the excerpts:

Iraq

Vice President Dick Cheney: The effort that we’ve mounted with respect to Iraq focused specifically on the possibility that this was the most likely nexus between the terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. The biggest threat we face today is the possibility of terrorists smuggling a nuclear weapon or a biological agent into one of our own cities and threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans. What we did in Iraq was exactly the right thing to do. If I had it to recommend all over again, I would recommend exactly the right -- same course of action. The world is far safer today because Saddam Hussein is in jail, his government is no longer in power. And we did exactly the right thing.

Sen. John Edwards: It’s not just me that sees the mess in Iraq. There are Republican leaders, like [Sen.] John McCain, like [Sen.] Richard [G.] Lugar, like [Sen.] Chuck Hagel, who have said Iraq is a mess and it’s getting worse. And when they were asked why, Richard Lugar said because of the incompetence of the administration. What [former U.S. administrator in Iraq L.] Paul Bremer [III] said yesterday is they didn’t have enough troops to secure the country. They also didn’t have a plan to win the peace. They also didn’t put the alliances together to make this successful. We need a fresh start.

Iraq and Sept. 11

Edwards: We went into Afghanistan, and very quickly the administration made a decision to divert attention from that and instead began to plan for the invasion of Iraq. And these connections -- I want the American people to hear this very clearly -- listen carefully to what the vice president is saying, because there is no connection between Saddam Hussein and the attacks of Sept. 11th , period. The 9/11 commission has said that’s true. [Secretary of State] Colin [L.] Powell has said it’s true. But the vice president keeps suggesting that there is. There is not. And, in fact, any connection with Al Qaeda is tenuous at best.

Cheney: The senator’s got his facts wrong. I have not suggested there’s a connection between Iraq and 9/11, but there’s clearly an established Iraqi track record with terror. And the point is that that’s the place where you’re most likely to see the terrorists come together with weapons of mass destruction, the deadly technologies that Saddam Hussein had developed and used over the years. Now, the fact of the matter is, the big difference here ... is that they are not prepared to deal with states that sponsor terror. They’ve got a very limited view about how to use U.S. military forces to defend America....

A little tough talk in the midst of a campaign or as part of a presidential debate cannot obscure a record of 30 years of being on the wrong side of defense issues, and they give absolutely no indication, based on that record, of being willing to go forward and aggressively pursue the war on terror with a kind of strategy that will work, that will defeat our enemies, and will guarantee that the United States doesn’t again get attacked by the likes of Al Qaeda.

Security

Edwards: What John Kerry said, and it’s just as clear as day to anybody who was listening, he said: “We will find terrorists where they are and kill them before they ever do harm to the American people,” first. We will keep this country safe. He defended this country as a young man; he will defend this country as president of the United States. He also said very clearly that he will never give any country veto power over the security of the United States of America. Now, I know the vice president would like to pretend that wasn’t said, and the president would too. But the reality is, it was said.

Cheney: It’s awfully hard to convey a sense of credibility to allies when you voted for the war and then you declared, wrong war, wrong place, wrong time. You voted for the war and then you voted against supporting the troops when they needed the equipment, the fuel, the spare parts and the ammunition and the body armor. You’re not credible on Iraq because of the enormous inconsistencies that John Kerry and you have cited time after time after time during the course of the campaign. Whatever the political pressures [of] the moment requires, that’s where you’re at. But you’ve not been consistent, and there’s no indication at all that John Kerry has the conviction to successfully carry through on the war on terror.