Cheney: U.S. Will Not Relent in Iraq

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, right bottom, waves to the members of the U.S. force in Japan, aboard the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk at the Yokosuka port, home to the Navy's 7th Fleet, in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. Cheney's brief visit is a gesture of appreciation for Japan, which has been one of Washington's most valuable allies in its global war on terror, sending troops to Iraq and deploying logistical help for the U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama) (Shuji Kajiyama - AP)

TOKYO -- Vice President Dick Cheney reaffirmed the Bush administration's commitment to the war in Iraq on a brief visit to Japan that wrapped up Thursday.

Cheney, who was headed to the U.S. Pacific island of Guam and then Australia, told troops at a U.S. naval base near Tokyo that America would not relent in Iraq.

"We want to complete the mission, we want to get it done right, and then we want to come home, with honor," he said. "The American people will not support a policy of retreat."

Cheney said his visit to Japan was a gesture of appreciation for Tokyo, which has been one of Washington's most valuable allies in the war on terror by offering non-combat troops to assist U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The vice president met with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko and Foreign Minister Taro Aso, and held talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He also briefly met with the parents of a schoolgirl who had been abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s.

While in Japan, Cheney criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Rep. John Murtha over their plan to restrict President Bush's request for additional funds for the Iraq war to make it difficult or impossible to send 21,500 extra troops.

"I think if we were to do what Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha are suggesting, all we will do is validate the al-Qaida strategy," the vice president told ABC.

Pelosi said Cheney's remarks were "beneath the dignity of the debate" about the war.

In his talks with Abe, the two leaders discussed their stance on North Korea, which has rattled the region with its nuclear ambitions but earlier this month agreed to shut down its main nuclear reactor in exchange for energy aid and other incentives.

Cheney agreed earlier with Aso that the accord was "a correct first step," but pledged to keep up pressure on the communist regime to denuclearize.

Despite the breakthrough on North Korea, Japan has declined to contribute aid to the impoverished regime until the issue of past abductions of its citizens is resolved. The North has admitted kidnapping Japanese in the late 1970s and '80s, but has not provided a full accounting of the victims, Japan believes.

Cheney told Abe the U.S. respects Japan's position and wants "to seek a resolution of the tragic case of Japanese abductees."

The two leaders also discussed China's anti-satellite weapon test last month, saying it demonstrated the country's lack of transparency over its military and that Beijing needed to become a more "responsible and constructive force in international society," a Foreign Ministry official said later at a briefing on customary condition of anonymity.

Cheney relayed an invitation from Bush for Abe to visit the United States, the official said.