Cheney Gives Troops Pep Talk In Tikrit

VP Tells G.I.s In Iraq That Extended Deployments Are "Vital To The Mission"

(CBS/AP)  Vice President Dick Cheney saluted U.S. troops stationed near former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's hometown on Thursday and defended the Bush administration's recent decision to extend military deployments as "vital to the mission."

"The Army and the country appreciate the extra burden you carry," Cheney said.

He vowed to "stay on the offensive" despite growing public opposition in the United States to the war and efforts by the Democratic majority in Congress to restrict spending.

Cheney, who was defense secretary in the first Bush administration, spent the night on the base, about seven miles from Tikrit, Saddam's former hometown and an area populated mostly by minority-party Sunnis.

Cheney had breakfast with troops and participated in classified briefings from military commanders.

"It was a good report and I come away with even more appreciation for all you do, and greater confidence for the days ahead," Cheney said,

Between 10,000 and 12,000 troops are stationed at the base, which is located on the grounds of the former Iraqi Air Force Academy and is about 100 miles north of Baghdad, where Cheney spent Wednesday.

It was the first time Cheney spent the night in Iraq, and his whereabouts was closely guarded by the White House until Thursday's speech to the troops.

In other developments:

Prime Minister Tony Blair, the U.S.'s main ally in the war in Iraq, said Thursday that he will step down as prime minister on June 27, after a decade in office in which he brokered peace in Northern Ireland and followed the United States to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. Blair, 54, will leave office as soon as a new leader is elected for the Labour Party.

A majority of Iraqi lawmakers have endorsed a bill calling for a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops and demanding a freeze on the number of foreign troops already in the country, lawmakers said Thursday. The Iraqi bill, drafted by a parliamentary bloc loyal to anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, was signed by 144 members of the 275-member house, according to Nassar al-Rubaie, the leader of the Sadrist bloc.

A judge on Thursday sentenced a British civil servant to six months in prison for leaking a classified memo about a meeting between Prime Minister Tony Blair and President Bush, in breach of the Official Secrets Act. A lawmaker's aide was sentenced to three months. David Keogh, 50, a government communications officer, was found guilty of "making a damaging disclosure" by passing on the secret memo about April 2004 talks between the two leaders in which Mr. Bush purportedly referred to bombing the Arab television station Al-Jazeera.

A suicide truck bomb ripped through the Interior Ministry in the relatively peaceful Kurdish city of Irbil on Wednesday, killing 14 people and wounding dozens, officials said. Kurdish officials blamed al Qaeda-linked insurgents for the first major attack in the regional capital in more than three years.

Four Iraqi journalists were killed Wednesday in a drive-by shooting near the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, police said. The four worked for the independent Raad media company, which publishes several weekly newspapers and monthly magazines that are generally pro-government and deal with politics, education and arts.

A new report by the group Save the Children says Iraq's child mortality rate is up 150 percent since 1990. Mark Strassmann reports that thousands of Baghdad's children live on the streets, with little to protect them from the daily violence.

Continued

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© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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by tbweb May 12, 2007 7:02 AM EDT

There were 3 key messages from Iraq today that caught my attention. First there was the message from Vice President *** Cheney which was collected, clear and I support it. But even if the VP examines his own message he will notice none of what he said has to be accomplished with a U.S. presence deployed inside Iraq! Next there was the message from Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. "Randy" Mixon, deployed at Diyala province, sitting directly on the Iranian border which must be a nightmare all by itself, is there any wonder why 60 U.S. were killed there so far this year? His message was the Iraqi military is not up to the task and his assessment was the Iraqis were fair at best! His assessment of the Iraqi government was even worst, to being non-functional and corrupt to basically a joke! Sorry General, no more U.S. Troops, lets go home! Add the Iraqi governments planned 2 month vacation and thats a nightmare as well. Then there was the message that the Iraqi government is creating a resolution for the U.S. to leave Iraq! That will teach the U.S. a lesson for getting upset over their planned 2 month vacation, take that! Well folks my assessment is the Shiites are playing winner takes all and are not about to share anything meaningful with the Sunnis! Its time for Pres. Bush and VP Cheney to create an honorable exit strategy for the U.S. that we can all live with and take care of our business remote from this drama.

Reply to this comment

by king77shaw May 11, 2007 10:34 PM EDT

when the same corporations that make the weapons also deliver the news, you know your democracy is in trouble %u2013 General Electric (a huge military contractor) owns NBC %u2026

Stop paying for propaganda ! %u2013 CANCEL YOUR CABLE TELEVISION %u2026 you won%u2019t miss it and you%u2019ll be surprised by how much more time you%u2019ll have to enjoy the things that nourish you.

Reply to this comment

by king77shaw May 11, 2007 10:31 PM EDT

when the same corporations that make the weapons also deliver the news, you know your democracy is in trouble %u2013 General Electric (a huge military contractor) owns NBC %u2026

Stop paying for propaganda %u2013 CANCEL YOUR CABLE TELEVISION %u2026 you won%u2019t miss it and you%u2019ll be surprised by how much more time you%u2019ll have to enjoy the things that nourish you.

Reply to this comment

by king77shaw May 11, 2007 9:49 PM EDT

we have no good options in Iraq anymore - the Republican neo-con agenda that rules the party has failed America, the Iraqis and the global community at large ... the only beneficiaries have been the elitist corporate insiders and lobbyists (Exxon-Mobil, Bechtel, KBR, AIPAC, Halliburton, Blackwater) that have been making a killing while supporting the killing ... in a period of American history when we most needed leadership, we've seen the true face of the Republican party - GREED.

Reply to this comment

by starleo146 May 11, 2007 7:58 PM EDT

I think when John Warner told Bush in Virginia your poll numbers are 5% is when Bush came out all of a sudden I can work with benchmarks I want to work with republicans and democrats BLAH BLAH BLAH should have thought of that before you veto ALL the money provided the troops go ahead veto again we still have OPTIONS YOU DO NOT

Reply to this comment

by randalds May 11, 2007 7:02 PM EDT

Posted by starleo146 at 02:33 PM : May 11, 2007

Thanks. It's nice to know people are reading some of my words. Other then some of the brain dead trolls that infest this site that is.

;-)

Reply to this comment

by randalds May 11, 2007 6:59 PM EDT

Posted by starleo146 at 02:33 PM : May 11, 2007

Thanks. It's nice to know people are reading some of my words. Other then the brain dead trolls that infest this site that is.
;-)

Reply to this comment

by starleo146 May 11, 2007 6:06 PM EDT

Today is military spouse day Ironic isn't it do you know when our military get set to go to Iraq they check out everything donate to the survivor benefit program the military has and if they die they think there families are taken care of WRONG IF THE FAMILY (SAY HAVE A DISABLED WIFE OR HUSBAND) THAT BENEFIT IS SUBTRACTED FROM THE SURVIVOR BENEFIT SOME END UP WITH NOTHING if there is a cost of living raise that benefit is cut even more talk about ripping our troops off they are paying into this there is a bill s935 in the senate write your senator and tell them to correct this just another way to short change health care etc.

Reply to this comment

by dogband May 11, 2007 5:51 PM EDT

POS Cheney, with his multiple deferments, telling foot soldiers to stay and die. FUBAR.

Reply to this comment

by starleo146 May 11, 2007 5:51 PM EDT

jimmebear I think I figured it out Mudrose works in the government as a financial planner no wonder I am on the way to the poor house. What the h*e*l*l did she say?

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[tbweb]

There were 3 key messages from Iraq today that caught my attention. First there was the message from Vice President *** Cheney which was collected, clear and I support it. But even if the VP examines his own message he will notice none of what he said has to be accomplished with a U.S. presence deployed inside Iraq! Next there was the message from Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. "Randy" Mixon, deployed at Diyala province, sitting directly on the Iranian border which must be a nightmare all by itself, is there any wonder why 60 U.S. were killed there so far this year? His message was the Iraqi military is not up to the task and his assessment was the Iraqis were fair at best! His assessment of the Iraqi government was even worst, to being non-functional and corrupt to basically a joke! Sorry General, no more U.S. Troops, lets go home! Add the Iraqi governments planned 2 month vacation and thats a nightmare as well. Then there was the message that the Iraqi government is creating a resolution for the U.S. to leave Iraq! That will teach the U.S. a lesson for getting upset over their planned 2 month vacation, take that! Well folks my assessment is the Shiites are playing winner takes all and are not about to share anything meaningful with the Sunnis! Its time for Pres. Bush and VP Cheney to create an honorable exit strategy for the U.S. that we can all live with and take care of our business remote from this drama.

[king77shaw]

when the same corporations that make the weapons also deliver the news, you know your democracy is in trouble %u2013 General Electric (a huge military contractor) owns NBC %u2026

Stop paying for propaganda ! %u2013 CANCEL YOUR CABLE TELEVISION %u2026 you won%u2019t miss it and you%u2019ll be surprised by how much more time you%u2019ll have to enjoy the things that nourish you.

[king77shaw]

when the same corporations that make the weapons also deliver the news, you know your democracy is in trouble %u2013 General Electric (a huge military contractor) owns NBC %u2026

Stop paying for propaganda %u2013 CANCEL YOUR CABLE TELEVISION %u2026 you won%u2019t miss it and you%u2019ll be surprised by how much more time you%u2019ll have to enjoy the things that nourish you.

[king77shaw]

we have no good options in Iraq anymore - the Republican neo-con agenda that rules the party has failed America, the Iraqis and the global community at large ... the only beneficiaries have been the elitist corporate insiders and lobbyists (Exxon-Mobil, Bechtel, KBR, AIPAC, Halliburton, Blackwater) that have been making a killing while supporting the killing ... in a period of American history when we most needed leadership, we've seen the true face of the Republican party - GREED.

[starleo146]

I think when John Warner told Bush in Virginia your poll numbers are 5% is when Bush came out all of a sudden I can work with benchmarks I want to work with republicans and democrats BLAH BLAH BLAH should have thought of that before you veto ALL the money provided the troops go ahead veto again we still have OPTIONS YOU DO NOT

[randalds]

Posted by starleo146 at 02:33 PM : May 11, 2007

Thanks. It's nice to know people are reading some of my words. Other then some of the brain dead trolls that infest this site that is.

;-)

[randalds]

Posted by starleo146 at 02:33 PM : May 11, 2007

Thanks. It's nice to know people are reading some of my words. Other then the brain dead trolls that infest this site that is.
;-)

[starleo146]

Today is military spouse day Ironic isn't it do you know when our military get set to go to Iraq they check out everything donate to the survivor benefit program the military has and if they die they think there families are taken care of WRONG IF THE FAMILY (SAY HAVE A DISABLED WIFE OR HUSBAND) THAT BENEFIT IS SUBTRACTED FROM THE SURVIVOR BENEFIT SOME END UP WITH NOTHING if there is a cost of living raise that benefit is cut even more talk about ripping our troops off they are paying into this there is a bill s935 in the senate write your senator and tell them to correct this just another way to short change health care etc.

[dogband]

POS Cheney, with his multiple deferments, telling foot soldiers to stay and die. FUBAR.

[starleo146]

jimmebear I think I figured it out Mudrose works in the government as a financial planner no wonder I am on the way to the poor house. What the h*e*l*l did she say?