WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Vice President Dick Cheney has accused Democratic senators of trying to gain political mileage by questioning President Bush's conduct of the Iraq War.
In a speech Wednesday before a conservative public policy organization, Cheney said senators who accuse the Bush administration of misleading the public on pre-war intelligence are engaging in "one of the most dishonest and reprehensible charges ever aired" in Washington, D.C.
"Some of the most irresponsible comments have, of course, come from politicians who actually voted in favor of authorizing force against Saddam Hussein," Cheney said at a dinner held by the Frontiers of Freedom Institute.
Without singling out any senators by name, Cheney said "some U.S. senators" reached the same judgment about "Iraq's capabilities and intentions" that the Bush administration and the Clinton administration had made.
"What we're hearing now is some politicians contradicting their own statements and making a play for political advantage in the middle of a war," he said.
Cheney said the criticism threatens to undermine the morale of U.S. troops in Iraq. The remarks are part of a White House effort to answer increasing criticism of the way the administration used intelligence during the run-up to the Iraq War in 2003, the Washington Post reported.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. -- responding to an advance test of Cheney's remarks -- said it is the vice president who was being dishonest.
"Now is the time to come clean," said the Senate Minority Leader, "not to continue the pattern of deceit."
