Cheney Says Allies Will Back US on Iraq

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney, vowing to "use all the means at our disposal," said Friday he believes U.S. allies would support aggressive action against Iraq and other rogue nations to fight terrorism.

Cheney said Iraq is "very much of concern" to President Bush and one of the focuses of the U.S. war against terrorism because of its drive to develop weapons of mass destruction and its past support of terrorists.

"Not only do they have a robust set of programs to develop their own weapons of mass destruction, this is a place that's used it," said Cheney, who was defense secretary during the 1990–91 Gulf War.

During a question and answer session before the Council on Foreign Relations, Cheney spoke bluntly about both Iraq and Iran, the two nations along with North Korea that Bush singled out last month in his State of the Union address as representing an "axis of evil."

A questioner told Cheney that there seemed to be a growing consensus in Washington that the time was coming to take on Iraq. He asked the vice president how the administration planned to overcome international objections to a more aggressive U.S. policy against Iraq.

Cheney said that the administration intended a multifaceted approach against terror with some of it "visible and public" like the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan and some of it not.

"Other aspects of it may never see the light of day probably shouldn't," Cheney said. "You're clearly going to have to deal in the shadows to some extent on some of these areas."

But in pursuing the fight against terrorism, Cheney said the administration planned to "use all the means at our disposal, meaning military, diplomatic, intelligence, et cetera to address these concerns."

Cheney said while the administration does not talk about what future actions it might take, "I think if aggressive action is required, I would anticipate there would be the appropriate support for that, both from the American people and the international community."

Bush has asked his advisers and various agencies, including the military, for a wide-ranging review to develop options for dealing with Iraq.

After months of avoiding public appearances, Cheney plans a 10-day trip in March to 10 states in the Gulf region and Middle East.

On Iran, Cheney said that the country's "conduct in recent weeks has not been encouraging."

Early in the U.S. war on terrorism, American officials spoke of better cooperation with Iran after it tacitly approved their campaign to topple the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan. But recently, U.S. officials have accused Tehran of trying to undermine Afghanistan's new government and of smuggling weapons to the Palestinians.

Iran has denied involvement in the arms shipment.

"I've been deeply disappointed in the conduct of the government of Iran," Cheney said. He cited Iran's apparent commitment to destroy the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and "unstinting efforts to develop weapons of mass destruction."

Cheney said he hoped the Iranian government of President Mohammad Khatami "would understand the strength of our feelings" and that both sides could find a way to resolve U.S. concerns.

He also added that "there is a great yearning on the part of the Iranian people to restore and re-establish relationships with the U.S. and the West."

U.S. officials reacted skeptically to a report from Tehran on Thursday that Iranian authorities have arrested some 150 people and are questioning them about possible links to the Taliban or al-Qaida.

CIA Director George J. Tenet said last week that Tehran has failed "to move decisively against al-Qaida members who have relocated to Iran from Afghanistan."