Armey: Cheney misled me on Iraq

WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Vice President Dick Cheney gave former House Majority Leader Dick Armey misleading information to win his support for the U.S. invasion of Iraq, a book says.

Barton Gellman's book, "Angler," is an expansion of a 2007 series in the Washington Post he co-authored with Jo Becker. The series won a Pulitzer Prize.

Armey, R-Texas, told Gellman Cheney claimed Saddam Hussein had direct ties to al-Qaida and his engineers were close to creating a nuclear weapon that could be carried in a suitcase, the Post reports. At the time, Armey was considering voting against the resolution authorizing the invasion.

"Did Dick Cheney ... purposely tell me things he knew to be untrue? I seriously feel that may be the case," Armey said. "Had I known or believed then what I believe now, I would have publicly opposed the resolution right to the bitter end, and I believe I might have stopped it from happening."

Other Republicans also made damaging claims about Cheney. Frank Keating of Oklahoma and John Engler of Michigan said that Cheney leaked damaging information to keep Keating out of the Cabinet.

"Dick Cheney coming into my life has been like a black cloud," Keating said.