Vice President Cheney in Iraq and Persian Gulf

Notice you won't see any fawning quotes from terrorists praising this trip like they did Pelosi!



From: Vice President Cheney told an audience of 3,500 to 4,000 American service members aboard the aircraft carrier USS Stennis in the Persian Gulf that Iran would not be permitted to choke off oil shipments through the waters of the region.

"With two carrier strike groups in the Gulf, we're sending clear messages to friends and adversaries alike," he said. "We'll keep the sea lanes open. We'll stand with our friends in opposing extremism and strategic threats. We'll disrupt attacks on our own forces. We'll continue bringing relief to those who suffer, and delivering justice to the enemies of freedom. And we'll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region."

Earlier, in Iraq Vice President Dick Cheney is joined by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, left, and General David Petraeus, Commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, right, for a press conference Wednesday, May 9, 2007, at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. In speaking about the day's meetings with Iraqi officials, the Vice President said, "I emphasized the importance of making progress on the issues before us, not only on the security issues but also on the political issues that are pending before the Iraqi government. I was impressed with the commitment on the part of the Iraqis to succeed on these tasks, to work together to solve these issues." White House photo by David Bohrer

Press Conference Here.

Vice President Dick Cheney awards SSgt Vincent Lewis with the Combat Infantry Badge during a rally for the troops Thursday, May 10, 2007 at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq. White House photo by David Bohrer

Vice President's Remarks at a Rally for U.S. Troops at Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq

Vice President Dick Cheney and U.S. officials meet with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani Wednesday, May 9, 2007, at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. White House photo by David Bohrer

Interview with Bret Baier, Fox News:

...one item that stood out that everybody mentioned to me is the changes they see in Anbar province, where apparently the locals, the tribal sheikhs, the Sunni population, appears to be turning against al Qaeda. Al Qaeda has been a dominant force in that part of Iraq. It's been heavily engaged out there for several years. But apparently, it's reached the point where their conduct in the local community has been such that the Sunni leaders in the region have, in effect, turned against them.

So there are stories, for example, of extensive number of volunteers to serve in the police forces now. It used to be very hard to get anybody out there to volunteer to serve in the police force, be part of the security force sponsored by the government. Now that's going very smoothly. It's those kinds of things that I think were important in terms of looking forward to changes on the ground in this situation. I think if you look in Baghdad, the number of sectarian killings, of Sunni-on-Shia and Shia-on-Sunni killings, has gone down.