"Well, I'm the vice president, and they're not,'' Vice President Dick Cheney said with a laugh at the close of a long interview, asked how he handles criticism from the likes of Brent Scowcroft, former national security adviser, an old associate who has said that he does not know Cheney anymore.
People have gotten personal, Cheney was reminded in the interview with Newsweek magazine. But he is, as Newsweek concludes in its online report of this interview, a "Man Without Doubt.'' Cheney withheld his own criticism for war critics such as Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, with the vice president invoking Ronald Reagan's 11th Commandment that "thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican'' -- while admitting that, with Hagel, it's often difficult.
While Cheney hews to the administration's line on the war in Iraq and the standoff with Iran over its nuclear ambitions– with Cheney maintaining the White House wants to resolve the Iranian dispute diplomatically – the vice president does offer a stern reminder that President Bush also has voiced during his travels in Europe: "We've also made it clear that we haven't taken any options off the table.''
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