'Withdrawal means Iraq defeat'

2007-04-02 19:23

Washington - US vice-president Dick Cheney warned on Monday that the United States faces defeat in Iraq if Democrats succeed in imposing a timetable for the withdrawal of US forces.

"It's time the self-appointed strategists on Capitol Hill understood a very simple concept: You cannot win a war if you tell the enemy you're going to quit," Cheney said in remarks prepared for delivery at a political fundraiser.

Democrats, who control congress for the first time since US President George W Bush took office, have passed emergency funding for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq but inserted language requiring a pull-out of US forces from Iraq in 2008 at the latest.

"When members of congress speak not of victory but of time limits, deadlines, or other arbitrary measures, they're telling the enemy to simply watch the clock and wait us out," charged Cheney.

Bush has vowed to veto any timetable, and the Democrats lack the votes needed to override him but have vowed not to back down in the fight over the unpopular war.

"It is pointless for the Democrats to continue pursuing this legislation," Cheney said in Alabama.

"It's time for congress to stop the political theatre and send the president a bill he can sign into law."

- AFP