Cheney: Senate Resolution "Won't Stop Us"
Vice President Says It's "Hogwash" To Say Bush's Credibility Is At Stake In Iraq
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Play CBS Video Video Senate Panel Nixes Bush's Plea In a non-binding resolution, the Democratic-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee rejected President Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, calling it a "mistake." Sharyl Attkisson reports.
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Video Politico Editor On Senate Vote Hannah Storm speaks with Jim VandeHei, executive editor of The Politico, about the symbolic vote by a Senate House committee against the president's plan for a troop surge in Iraq.
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Video Panel Rejects Troop Increase A Senate panel voted to reject President Bush's plans for a troop surge. Although the resolution is non-binding, it's a strong message of disapproval. Aleen Sirgany reports.
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Vice President Dick Cheney said critics of the administration's Iraq strategy "have not suggested a policy — they haven't put anything in place." (AP)
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Interactive New Plan For Iraq Key elements of the plan, excerpts from the president's speech, reaction and more.
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Interactive 2007 State Of The Union President Bush lays out a streamlined agenda to Congress, VIPs, invited guests and the nation.
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Interactive Second In Command A closer look at Vice President Dick Cheney's career and his much-publicized health problems.
"We are moving forward. The Congress has control over the purse strings. They have the right, obviously, if they want, to cut off funding," Cheney said Wednesday in an occasionally testy CNN interview.
"But in terms of this effort, the president has made his decision. We've consulted extensively with them. We'll continue to consult with the Congress. But the fact of the matter is, we need to get the job done."
If the president was almost humbly pleading with Congress in Tuesday's State of the Union address to give his plan a chance, CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod says the vice president played what has come to be his typical role: the enforcer.
He dismissed suggestions that the Bush administration's credibility is on the line because of mistakes in Iraq as "hogwash."
And he railed at critics for not coming up with a plan of their own for Iraq.
"The critics have not suggested a policy — they haven't put anything in place," Cheney said. "All they've recommended is to redeploy or to withdraw our forces. The fact is, we can complete the task in Iraq. We're going to do it. We've got (Lt. Gen. David) Petraeus — Gen. Petraeus taking over. It is a good strategy. It will work. But we have to have the stomach to finish the task."
Cheney acknowledged the situation in Iraq was very unstable but said toppling Saddam Hussein had been the right thing to do. He said he trusted Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who he said had demonstrated a willingness to take on lawbreakers regardless of their religious or ethnic affiliations.
The vice president said the biggest mistake the United States has made in the war was underestimating the psychological effect Saddam's regime had on Iraqi citizens.
"I think we underestimated the extent to which 30 years of Saddam's rule had really hammered the population, especially the Shia population, into submissiveness," he said. "It was very hard for them to stand up and take responsibility in part because anybody who had done that in the past had had their heads chopped off."
Asked about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts, Cheney said he believes bin Laden is alive, but would not speculate about whether he might be hiding in Afghanistan, Pakistan or along their shared border. "I don't want to be that precise," Cheney said.
On other topics, the vice president said he does not think Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York would make a very good president "because she's a Democrat."
"I don't agree with her philosophically and from a policy standpoint," he said.
Cheney bristled when asked to respond to critics who question his daughter Mary's decision to have a baby and raise it with her female partner. "I think you're out of line with that question," replied Cheney, who said he was delighted about having a sixth grandchild.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The secrets of tennis legend 
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See all 238 CommentsGo to www.st911.org, read The New Pearl Harbor by David Ray Griffin or Towers of Deception by Barrie Zwicker.
It's your patriotic duty to learn the painful truth. Millions around the world know and many are speaking out and writing intelligently. Learn who the real conspirators are and why they did it. Possible nuclear war with Iran is just around the corner and last week the Society of Atomic Scientists moved the "Doomsday Clock" ahead TWO minutes. It's 5 minutes till midnight, this is serious stuff and YOU can help to stop it.
The percent of American's who understand this
He - and his Republishit Party - are morally bankrupt and on the way out for at least the next fifteen years. He knows this - he's the relatively smart one of the duo that is currently in power. That's why he looks like he has a stomach ache all the time...he's miserable.
Major coronary around the corner, I figure - - and hope gladly for. He deserves it.
1- accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and World Court
2- sign the Kyoto accords
3- let the UN lead international crisis action
4- use diplomatic & economic measures against terrorism
5- keep to traditional interpretation of UN Charter
6- give up SC veto at UN and show a decent respect for world opinion
7- cut back military spending, increase social spending
Why does America let this creep get away with his War Crimes. He is the puppet master - Bush is ignorant, arrogant and easily manipulated by Cheney and the NeoCons.
Congress has the power to say NO to this War.
Your loyalty to the Vice President, I assume, is based on a belief that we should not criticize out leaders; such dogmatic loyalty to a head of state, wheather it be a US Vice President or an Iranian mullah, is equally blinding. I plead that you consider the results of the policies: indeed the Vice President's arguments for launching pre-emptive war (WMD, ties to 9-11), points about "tremendous progress"..and on and on...compared with the utter destruction of life, tens of thousands INNOCENT people killed as a result of our nation's reckless and inhumane actions in Iraq, my my my we could go on...billions of dollars lost to the US in cost....it's certainly a catastrophe. AND now he says the Senate resolution "won't stop us"...elected officials can not stop the administration? Lieberman 18, if you want to blindly support a leader despite what most of humanity rightly sees as their inhumane actions....if blindly pledging allegiance to your leader is your thing....please, I suggest a few nations where you would be more comfortable: Syria, Iran ,North Korea. Despite your vociferous 'loyalty'...that is NOT what the US is supposed to be about.
Obviously you didn't learn very much in the Corps.
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