Cheney Has No Regrets Over Iraq Invasion

Three years into the war that has come to define the legacy of the Bush administration Dick Cheney, the vice-president, has said he has no regrets about the decision to invade Iraq.

Mr Cheney's refusal to admit to doubts about going to war highlights his isolation from an administration which has demonstrated a degree of candour about Iraq, as well as the rest of the country where only 37% approve of the White House's handling of the conflict. Mr Cheney has even less support; his approval ratings have dipped below 20%. But in an interview to appear in June's Vanity Fair magazine, he remained a picture of certitude.

Asked whether in his "darkest nights" he ever doubted the decision to go to war, he said: "I think what we've done has been what needed to be done."

Mr Cheney was unmoved by postwar disclosures about the use of hyped and faulty intelligence to make the case for the invasion - some of which has been tied directly to his office.

He said: "In the end, you can argue about the quality of the intelligence and so forth, but ... I look at that whole spectrum of possibilities and options, and I think we did the right thing."

Mr Cheney's refusal to countenance doubt caps a career in politics and business where he was chairman of Halliburton in the 1990s, guided by deeply conservative views. According to Vanity Fair Mr Cheney's first thought on visiting Moscow's Red Square in the 1980s was: "'Well, I guess we're at ground zero'" of any American nuclear strike."

Other members of the government have admitted to mistakes in the war. Last month Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, said the US had made thousands of tactical errors.

Meanwhile, Paul Wolfowitz and some other ardent supporters of the war have left the administration. Those departures have left Mr Cheney diminished within a government in which he had earlier been viewed as the guiding force. In the early days of George Bush's term Mr Cheney assembled a bigger national security staff than any of his predecessors. He also wanted to preside over meetings of the National Security Council in the president's absence - but was thwarted.

Although Mr Cheney has suffered four heart attacks, there are hardline Republicans who would like him to run for president. But in recent months his power appears to be waning and he is increasingly viewed as a liability.

In the interview Mr Cheney acknowledged that he had image problems, but appeared disinclined to repair that image. "My image might be better out there, this caricature you talk about might be avoided, if I spent more time as a public figure trying to improve my image, but that's not why I'm here," he said.