MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14906776/Cheney: War on terror a 'war of nerves'
V.P. says hopes of civilized world rest on U.S. victory
Updated: 25 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney cast the global war on terror on Tuesday as a "war of nerves," borrowing a phrase Harry Truman used to describe the Cold War. Cheney asserted that the hopes of the civilized world depend on a U.S. victory.
"We are not going to let down our guard," Cheney told a convention of automobile dealers. He said President Bush "will not relent in the effort to track the enemies of the United States with every legitimate tool at his command."
He defended the administration's warrantless wiretapping and detainee programs, both subject to criticism from Democrats and some members of his own Republican party.
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Cheney said that, to President Truman, the term Cold War was "an expression he never much cared for and seldom used. He called it the war of nerves. When you think about it, that's an apt description of the kind of challenge America is now facing."
"The war on terror is a test of our strength, a test of our capabilities, and above all a test of our character," Cheney said.
"We know that the hopes of the civilized world ride with us. Our cause is right, it is just and this nation will prevail," Cheney added.