Cheney: No Timeline for Withdrawal of U.S. Troops

Vice President Cheney today rejected a demand from Iraq's minority Sunni Muslim leaders that a timetable be established for the withdrawal of the 150,000 U.S. troops there. But he indicated that the administration is pleased with the early outlines of a new Iraqi government and believes that the two major religious factions in the country will be able to work together to form a strong government. "Once we've completed the mission, we've stood up an effective Iraqi government and they have security forces in place to be able to take care of their own, then we're out of there . . . ," Cheney said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. "But the test for our departure has to come with respect to when we've completed the mission, not some artificial deadline we might decide on now as part of a political compromise. And I think we'll find that, in fact, that will be the view that will prevail in the new Iraqi government. [more]