ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates --Vice President Dick Cheney told U.S. troops in Iraq yesterday that he knows they're suffering hardships from extended deployments but the longer stays are "vital to the mission."
His words were greeted with restrained applause at a rally on a U.S. military base near Saddam Hussein's former hometown of Tikrit. On his second day in Iraq, Cheney also held classified meetings with U.S. military leaders and emerged repeating words of the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus that "we can expect more violence" ahead.
From Iraq, Cheney flew to this Persian Gulf nation, the second stop on a trip that also will include visits to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. The purpose of his trip is to persuade Arab allies in the region to do more to help stabilize Iraq and promote ethnic reconciliation there.
Today Cheney is to visit the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis, steaming in the gulf not far from here.
A couple thousand soldiers, clad in camouflage uniforms and with rifles slung on their shoulders, greeted the vice president at a mess hall at Camp Speicher, the desert post near Tikrit.
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