Transcript for Sept. 10

MR. RUSSERT: The American people have now pretty much made their views of the war known. We asked them, “The Iraq war, is it worth it?” And look at this: 39 percent say worth it, 59 percent—nearly six in 10--say not worth it. The president has said we will stay the course...

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: ...complete the mission, finish the job. How do you define victory? And why have the American people turned against the war?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, Tim, I think people obviously are frustrated, because of the difficulty, because of the cost, because of the casualties, but you cannot look at Iraq in isolation. You have to look at it within the context of the broader, global war on terror. Remember what we’ve been involved in here. We’ve been involved in Afghanistan, take down the Taliban, stand up to the regime, etc. Pakistan, we’ve gone in and worked closely with Musharraf to take down al-Qaeda. Saudi Arabia, same thing. In all of those cases, it’s been a matter of getting the locals into the fight to prevail over al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda-related tyrants.

Now comes Iraq. Now we’ve got people saying, “Gee, get out of Iraq. You ought to pack it in and go home. It’s unrelated.” Now you’ve got hundreds of thousands, millions of people out there who have staked their fate in some extent on the United States. Think of all those people who turned out in the face of assassins and car bombers to vote. Think of the hundreds of thousands of folks who’ve signed on to the security forces of Iraq and Afghanistan.  Think of Musharraf who puts his neck on the line every day he goes to work, when there’ve been attempts on his life because of his support for our position. And they look over here and they see the United States that’s made a commitment to the Iraqis, that’s gone in and taken down the old regime, worked to set up a democracy, worked to set up security forces, and all of a sudden we say it’s too tough, we’re going home. What’s Karzai going to think up in Kabul? Is he going to have any confidence at all that he can trust the United States, that in fact we’re there to get the job done? What about Musharraf? Or is Musharraf and those people you’re talking about who are on the fence in Afghanistan and elsewhere going to say, “My gosh, the United States hasn’t got the stomach for the fight. Bin Laden’s right, al-Qaeda’s right, the United States has lost its will and will not complete the mission,” and it will damage our capabilities and all of those other war fronts, if you will, in the global war on terror.

MR. RUSSERT: But the alternative view is that this has been a fundamental set of misjudgment, there were no weapons of mass destruction, there was no linkage of Iraq to September 11 and that there’s a, there’s a disconnect between rhetoric and reality. I want to go back to May 30, 2005, when you said to the American people and to the world, “I think the level of activity [in Iraq] that we see today, from a military standpoint, I think will clearly decline. I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.”

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Since that time, Mr. Vice President, look at this. Between the beginning of the war and May 30 when you made that statement, we had 1,656 deaths in Iraq. There are now a thousand more American servicemen. There are 7,500 more wounded and injured. There are 20,000 more dead Iraqis. Wasn’t it a flat-out mistake to say we were in the last throes of the insurgency?

TEXT:

U.S. MILITARY

CASUALTIES IN IRAQ

                DEATHS   WOUNDED

MARCH 19, 2003-  1,656   12,516

MAY 30, 2005

TOTAL            2,655   19,945

Source: Associated Press/Department of Defense

VICE PRES. CHENEY: I think there’s no question, Tim, that the insurgency’s gone on longer and been more difficult that I had anticipated. I’ll be the first to admit that. But I also think when we look back on this period of time 10 years from now—and this is the context in which I made that statement last year—that 2005 will have been the turning point. Because that’s the point at which the Iraqis stepped up and established their own political process, wrote a constitution, held three national elections, and basically took on the responsibility for their own fate and their future.

And as I mentioned before, in Afghanistan, in Pakistan, in Saudi Arabia, and in Iraq, the key to victory is for us to be able to get the locals into the fight. The United States can’t do it all by itself. It can’t be only U.S.  security forces fighting in, in Iraq or Afghanistan. They’ve got to be willing to step up and take on the responsibility for their own fate. But they’re doing it and it’s absolutely essential that we complete that mission.

Now, is it tough and difficult? Absolutely. No doubt about it. You know, you regret every single casualty. I visit with the families. We spend time with the wounded when they come back. I visit with the troops every chance I get. It’s the toughest thing the president has to do, but it is absolutely the right thing to do, Tim, because if we weren’t there, if Saddam Hussein were still in power, the situation would be far worse than it is today.

You’d have a man who had demonstrated capacity for violence, who started two wars, who had, in fact, been involved with weapons for mass destruction, who had every intention of going back to it when the sanctions were lifted. And by this point, especially with Ahmadinejad living next door in Iran, pursuing nuclear weapons, there’s no doubt in my mind that if Saddam Hussein was still in power, would have a very robust program under way to try to do exactly the same thing. The world is better off because Saddam Hussein is in jail instead of in power in Baghdad. It was the right thing to do and if we had it to do over again, we’d do exactly the same thing.

MR. RUSSERT: Exactly the same thing?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Yes, sir.

MR. RUSSERT: Leading up to the war, three days before the war, you were on this program and I asked you a question.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: And I asked you about an analysis of what could occur.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Mm-hmm.

MR. RUSSERT: Let’s just watch, and we’ll talk about it.

(Videotape, March 16, 2003):

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Now, I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is, we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.

MR. RUSSERT: If your analysis is not correct, and we’re not treated as liberators, but as conquerors, and the Iraqis begin to resist, particularly in Baghdad, do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly and bloody battle with a—significant American casualties?

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, I don’t, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe we will be greeted as liberators.

(End of videotape)

MR. RUSSERT: In fact, it did unfold that way. It has been a long, costly and bloody war.

VICE PRES. CHENEY: It has.

MR. RUSSERT: And...

VICE PRES. CHENEY: Well, the first part, getting rid of Saddam, was not.

But clearly, the insurgency and the aftermath has been.

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