http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/02/20060203-5.htmlInterview of the Vice President by Laura Ingraham
Via Telephone, The Laura Ingraham Show
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Q And why do you think that in most the public opinion polls, the war itself with the progress that you've cited and that we've certainly heard from troops on the ground, commanders on the ground, it still seems to be fairly unpopular here in the United States. We know what it's like abroad, which is very unpopular. But why does that persist, that feeling?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think -- war is a very difficult proposition. And obviously, casualties and the cost of war are something that nobody likes -- that people try to avoid as much as possible; governments certainly do. We do. It's the last, last resort. You only resort to military action when you have no other choice. And so I think there's a natural sort of response that we get out there when you ask people, do you like the war, a lot of people are going to say, no, based on principle. That doesn't mean they don't support completing the mission; doesn't mean that they think we ought to cut and run; or suddenly withdraw and turn Iraq over to the bad guys. I do think there's a basic fundamental level of support out there in the country for the troops, and for what we're working to achieve in Iraq.
I'm confident we will succeed, that the only way we can lose this one is if we quit. And we're not about to quit. We're going to complete the mission, and I think you'll find when you're over there that that is, in fact, the desire of the people most directly involved, and those are the men and women wearing the American uniform, fighting on our behalf in Iraq.
Q I noticed that the President, Vice President Cheney, in the State of the Union speech used the word isolationist several times, and then in his speeches across the country after the State of the Union, he also used the isolationist word: "We cannot be isolationist . . . there used to be isolationism in the United States," and so forth. About whom is he speaking when he refers to isolationists today?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think -- I don't know that I want to put my finger on any one particular individual. Let me just describe a category. I would argue that people who want to deal with the terrorist threat, if you will, the way we dealt with it prior to 9/11 fall into that category. That is folks who feel that we can sort of retreat behind our oceans and everything will be okay, folks who believe that our involvement from a military perspective in the Middle East is somehow an "optional war, optional conflict." That's not true after 9/11. Once we got hit and lost 3,000 people here at home in Washington and New York and Pennsylvania, a little over four years ago now, when we weren't -- had done absolutely nothing from an international standpoint to justify that kind of an attack, I think pretty well makes the point that simply pulling behind our oceans and trying to sit safe and secure here at home doesn't work any more; that this crowd, the al Qaeda organization and all of its affiliates are committed to their objectives; and they're prepared to go anyplace and use any means at their disposal to kill Americans, as well as others around the globe; and that our only viable strategy in this case is to be actively and aggressively involved overseas, not pursue the sort of isolationist notion that somehow we can pull our heads in and hunker down and they'll leave us alone -- because they clearly won't.
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