Cheney: U.S. accomplished its Iraq goals

WASHINGTON, March 15 (UPI) -- The Bush administration accomplished "nearly everything we set out to do" in Iraq, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney says.

In his first television interview since leaving office, Cheney told CNN Sunday falling levels of violence in the country and recent elections showed the former U.S. administration's goals had been largely met.

"I think it's my general sense of where we are with respect to Iraq at the end of now, what, nearly six years is we accomplished nearly everything we set out to do," he said. "We have succeeded in creating in the heart of the Middle East a democratically governed Iraq, and it is, in fact, what we set out to do."

Cheney told the broadcaster he wouldn't use the phrase "mission accomplished" to describe the current situation in Iraq. "But," he said, "I would ask people, and the press too, to take an honest look at the circumstances in Iraq today, and how far we've come."

The former vice president also criticized President Barack Obama's nominee as ambassador to Iraq, Chris Hill, saying, "He's not the man I would have picked."