Terrorists Have Ambitions Of Empire, Says Cheney

Taken from The Sydney Morning Herald, February 24, 2007
By Cynthia Banham

TERRORISTS' ultimate aim is to establish "a caliphate covering a region from Spain, across North Africa, through the Middle East and South Asia, all the way to Indonesia -and it wouldn't stop there," the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, warned yesterday.

In comments that could have been made in the months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, but which fell flat with his Sydney audience, he said terrorists "had ambitions of empire".

Mr Cheney said if jihadists tasted victory in Iraq they would look for new missions, not only in Afghanistan but in capitals across the Middle East.

In his first public comments during a four-day trip to Sydney, Mr Cheney - an architect of the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq - told an audience that free nations "have a duty" to stand in the way of the insurgents for the sake of their long-term security.

In a week in which Britain announced a withdrawal of 3000 of its troops from Iraq by the end of the year, and Australia has promised to send 70 more military trainers there, Mr Cheney said "we are determined to prevail in Iraq because we understand the consequences of failure".

"If our coalition withdrew before Iraqis could defend themselves, radical factions would battle for dominance of the country," he said.

"The violence would likely spread throughout the country, and be difficult to contain. Having tasted victory in Iraq, jihadists would look for new missions.

"Many would head for Afghanistan … Others would set out for capitals across the Middle East, spreading more sorrow and discord as they eliminate dissenters and work to undermine moderate governments."

Mr Cheney's speech to the Australian-American Leadership Dialogue was full of praise for the Prime Minister, John Howard, who he said had "never wavered in the war on terror".

"The United States appreciates it - and the whole world respects you for it."

Mr Howard, who will meet Mr Cheney today, was not in the audience, but the Minister for Defence, Brendan Nelson, and the parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister, Tony Smith, were there.

Earlier Mr Cheney held a private meeting with a number of Dialogue members. It is understood he said Democrats in the US were riding public opposition to the war that could end up prejudicing their leadership credentials. He said the mood could easily shift if there was another terrorist attack.

Mr Cheney said the Australia-US alliance was "strong because we want it to be, and because we work at it, and because we respect each other as equals".

He praised Australian Defence Force members, a number of whom he later met at Victoria Barracks in Paddington, saying he had "grown in admiration" for their "skill and toughness".

Mr Cheney was critical of China. He praised its role in the agreement on North Korean nuclear weapons, but said other actions by its government sent a different message. "Last month's anti-satellite test, and China's continued fast-paced military build-up, are less constructive and are not consistent with China's stated goal of a 'peaceful rise'."

Mr Cheney said the US and Australia were working closely on ballistic missile defence.

The Chief of Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, the defence secretary, Nick Warner, and the foreign affairs and trade secretary, Michael L'Estrange, attended the speech, as did the Labor frontbenchers Robert McClelland and Joel Fitzgibbon. The Labor leader, Kevin Rudd, was not there, but he had a private meeting with Mr Cheney in the afternoon.

A spokesman said they had a "one-hour positive and constructive conversation on topics of mutual interest". Before the meeting he said among the topics would be the Asia-Pacific region, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, David Hicks and climate change.

Earlier Mr Rudd said among the protesters against Mr Cheney he had seen in television footage were "a bunch of violent ferals, and they should expect absolutely no sympathy from the police".

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Considering that most of these so called countries are "Muslim" countries what is the problem with establishing a caliphate? After all most of them countries were part of the Ottoman Empire before it was broken up after the first world war. Could Mr Cheney be worried about another Economic superpower to compete with the US (after the EU and China) or is the fear that the so called caliphate will be in control of most of the world's oil resources? It's time the US stopped supported dictators in the Middle East to pursue it's own interest.