CLEVELAND, United States : US Vice President Dick Cheney and
Democratic rival John Edwards clashed on Iraq, terrorism, and the
economy in their only debate, trading frequently personal attacks
28 days before the November 2 election.
Facing the first question of the televised 90-minute exchange,
Cheney said Saddam Hussein had "an established relationship with
Al-Qaeda" and defiantly declared: "What we did in Iraq was exactly
the right thing to do."
With millions of Americans watching, Edwards seized on Cheney's
claim of links between Saddam and Osama bin Laden's network and
charged: "Mr Vice President, you are still not being straight with
the American people."
"There is no connection between the attacks of September 11 and
Saddam Hussein," said Edwards. "And you've gone around the country
suggesting that there is some connection. There is not."
Political analysts agree that vice presidential debates, which date
back only to 1976, usually have little impact on the battle for the
top job, but Tuesday's debate drew added significance from polls
showing a tightening race.
But the absence of a clear, knock-out blow heightened expectations
for the second televised face-off on Friday between US President
George W. Bush and Democratic rival John Kerry.
The White House also found itself besieged by new charges from a
former top aide that it sent too few troops to Iraq and from fresh
doubts about links between Saddam and Al-Qaeda -- a key
justification for the March 2003 invasion.
Edwards, 51, hoped to build up Kerry's new momentum following what
was widely seen as a victory over Bush in the first of their three
televised debates last week.
Cheney, 63, tried to stop Kerry in his tracks by questioning his
fitness to command the US-led global war on terrorism, while making
the case that deadly chaos in Iraq will not derail progress towards
elections planned for January.
"If I had it to recommend all over again, I would recommend exactly
the same course of action," the vice president said defiantly. "I'm
confident that, in fact, we'll get the job done."
A small smile rarely leaving his lips, Edwards assailed what he
called the administration's misleading "rosy scenario" amid rising
casualties among US troops there and stressed: "It's not just me
that sees the mess in Iraq."
Echoing a charge from Kerry, Edwards accused the Bush
administration of letting bin Laden, "the man who masterminded the
greatest mass murder and terrorist attack in American history,"
slip away.
"The senator has got his facts wrong," Cheney countered in his
trademark baritone. "We've never let up on Osama bin Laden from day
one. We've actively and aggressively pursued him."
There was little new in the content of the attacks and
counter-attacks on Iraq, terrorism, or the economy, but the barbs
were much more personal then when Kerry and Bush faced off the
previous Thursday.
"Senator, frankly, you have a record in the Senate that's not very
distinguished," Cheney told the former trial lawyer. "You've missed
a lot of key votes: On tax policy, on energy, on Medicare
reform."
Edwards countered that Bush and Cheney stood to oversee the first
net job loss of any presidency since the Great Depression and said:
"Mr Vice President, I don't think the country can take four more
years of this type of experience."
He also accused the White House of focusing on Iraq at the expense
of dealing with nuclear crises with Iran and North Korea.
Cheney linked Kerry's comment last week that US preemptive military
action ought to pass a "global test" for legitimacy to what he said
was the Democrat's belief three decades ago that US forces "should
not be deployed without UN approval."
"A little tough talk in the midst of a campaign or as part of a
presidential debate cannot obscure a record of 30 years of being on
the wrong side of defense issues," the vice president added.
As Cheney and Edwards prepared for their high-octane exchange, the
Bush administration's strategy drew fire from an unlikely source:
the former US civilian overseer of Iraq, Paul Bremer.
Bremer complained in a speech to insurance professionals that "we
never had enough troops on the ground" after Baghdad fell, a
shortfall that left the Iraqi capital prey to "horrid"
looting.
"We paid a big price for not stopping it, because it established an
atmosphere of lawlessness," Bremer said.
In a statement sent later to The Washington Post, Bremer stressed
his support for the US strategy in Iraq, however.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld dealt another blow to the
principle rationales for the Iraq war by telling foreign policy
experts that he had seen no "strong, hard evidence" linking Saddam
to Al-Qaeda.
Rumsfeld later issued a statement saying there had been a
misunderstanding. But he did not disavow the comment.