Cheney expects Demos to back down on war bill

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney says he is "willing to bet" that Democratic lawmakers will back down and approve a war-spending bill that doesn't call for U.S. troops to leave Iraq. Top Democratic leaders shot back that Cheney has lost all public credibility.

With President Bush and Congress in a stalemate — he plans to veto legislation that orders U.S. troops home, which the House and Senate plan to send him — both sides are looking ahead. In an interview broadcast Sunday, Cheney predicted the Democrats will blink.

He said Congress will end up passing a "clean" bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without any troop withdrawal timetables. Democrats control Congress, but they do not appear to have the votes to override a presidential veto.

"They will not leave the troops in the field without the resources they need," Cheney said of the Democrats.

Asked what would happen if they don't back down, Cheney said: "I'm willing to bet the other way — that, in fact, they will."

"There may be some people who are so irresponsible that they wouldn't support that," Cheney said. But the majority will send Bush the bill he wants "once they've gone through the exercise and it's clear the president will veto the provisions that they want in," he said.

However, the Senate Armed Services Committee's chairman said Congress won't relent in winding down the war.

If Bush vetoes a bill calling for troop reductions, Democratic lawmakers would likely come back with a second try that requires the Iraqi government to meet performance benchmarks or face consequences, said Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich. Iraq's leadership is struggling to make the progress it has promised on political reconciliation, distribution of the country's oil wealth and other vital goals.

"We are very, very serious about what the American people said in November," Levin said, referring to the election that put Democrats in charge of Congress. "They want a change of course."

Cheney's blistering criticism of Democrats, the latest in a series of recent speeches and interviews, drew harsh words from Levin.

"He has misled the people consistently on Iraq," Levin said. "He has misstated. He has exaggerated. And I don't think he has any credibility left with the American people."

The uncooperative tone comes just as Bush plans to meet bipartisan leaders of Congress this week at the White House.