Cheney Spends Night in Iraq

Vice President Dick Cheney told U.S. soldiers Thursday terrorists have made Iraq the central front in the war on terror.

We’re fighting a war against terror, Cheney told U.S. troops in a speech at Camp Speicher, west of Tikrit. We are here, above all, because the terrorists who have declared war on America and other free nations have made Iraq the central front in that war.

Cheney spent the night at the military base, the former home of the Iraqi Air Force Academy, making him the highest-ranking administration official to spend a night in Iraq. He was in Baghdad Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, he ate breakfast with about 12 soldiers before having private briefings with U.S. commanders.

Maj. Gen. Benjamin Randy Mixon, commander of Multinational Division North, Task Force Lightening, which is based at Camp Speicher, said Cheney’s visit was a morale booster for the troops.

It’s a great opportunity for them. It’s a great memory. So it reinforces the fact that the mission is important, that the vice president would take the time to come and speak to us, he said.