Cleland to the Veep: “Where the hell were you in the Vietnam War?”

And about time....

Speaking before the 2007 AIPAC Policy Conference earlier today, Vice President Cheney trotted out the same old talking point about how any sort of timetable will just cause the "enemy" to "wait us out." When asked for his response to this, former Senator (and war hero) Max Cleland had some tough words for the draft-dodging and warmongering Veep:

"Where the hell were you in the Vietnam War? If you had gone to Vietnam like the rest of us, maybe you would have learned something about war. You can't keep troops on the ground forever. You gotta have a mission. You gotta have a purpose."
You can't keep sending 'em back and back and back with no mission and no purpose. As a matter of fact, the real enemy is Al Qaeda, it's Al Qaeda stupid, it's not in Iraq.

Update: John Amato: Nancy Pelosi responds:It is a disservice to our military personnel for President Bush and Vice President Cheney to continue to advocate for an open-ended commitment in Iraq, while brushing aside the advice of military leaders and the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, all of whom argue that the war in Iraq cannot be resolved militarily but only through diplomatic, economic and political means. As the Vice President’s remarks today prove again, the Administration’s answer to continuing violence in Iraq is more troops and more treasure from the American people…read on…