WASHINGTON - Plans for a US military withdrawal from Iraq by 2008 as proposed by Democrats in Congress would only encourage enemy Iran and demoralize friendly governments in Pakistan and Afghanistan, US Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday.
Cheney, speaking in a telephone interview on a popular conservative US radio show, said he believed "that a significant portion of the Democrats, including, I think, (Speaker of the House of Representatives) Nancy Pelosi, are adamantly opposed to the war and prepared to pack it in and come home in defeat, rather than put in place or support a policy that will lead to victory."
Cheney told the show's arch-conservative host, Rush Limbaugh, that a withdrawal was "not just about Iraq; it's about our efforts in the global war on terror and that entire part of the world.
"It affects what's going on in Iran, where we're trying to make sure they don't develop a nuclear weapon. You can imagine the extent to which the Iranians would be heartened in that effort if they see us withdraw from Iraq, next door," Cheney said.
"We've got (President Pervez) Musharraf in Pakistan and (President Hamid) Karzai in Afghanistan who put their lives on the line every day, in effect, supporting our efforts to deal with the extremists and the terrorists in that part of world.
"If they see us bail out in Iraq, they clearly would lose confidence in our capacity to carry through and get the job done," Cheney said.
Democrats in Congress have approved emergency spending packages for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but attached restrictions on how it may be spent and tied it to plans to withdraw in 2008.
President George W. Bush on Wednesday vowed to reject any legislation with a withdrawal timetable.
"It's dangerous, it's dangerous for our troops, it's dangerous for our country's security and it's not going to become the law," Bush said.
04/05/2007 22:10 GMT