Quote du Jour: Cleland Smacks Down Bush & Cheney

On Monday's CNN Situation Room:

BLITZER: And you've been very critical of the administration's policies in Iraq.

I want you to listen to what the vice president said earlier today because he is once again insisting that if your advice and the advice of other Democrats, other critics of the president's strategy are implemented, al Qaeda wins.

Listen to the vice president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When members speak not of victory, but of time limits, deadlines or other arbitrary measures, they're telling the enemy simply to watch the clock and wait us out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Senator, if you could sit down with the vice president and have a direct one-on-one meeting with him, what would you say to him?

CLELAND: Where the hell were you in the Vietnam War?

If you had have gone to Vietnam like the rest of us, maybe you would have learned something about war. You can't keep troops on the ground forever. They've got to have a mission. They've got to have a purpose. You can't keep sending them back and back and back with no mission and no purpose.

As a matter of fact, the real enemy is al Qaeda. It's al Qaeda -- stupid. It's not in Iraq. That's why we have to withdraw the ground forces there, settle Iraq with a diplomatic solution and go after al Qaeda.

That's what we should have been doing for the last four years.

Instead, this administration and this vice president and this president wants to send more troops to Iraq. Unbelievable.

BLITZER: And what would you say to the president?

CLELAND: You screwed up royally when you said, four years ago, major combat over, mission accomplished, bring 'em on. That means you should have gone to Vietnam and learned that you don't challenge guerrillas that way, people who want to blow themselves us just to take you out.

That's exactly what we've got going on in Iraq. That's what we've got going on in Afghanistan. We're in deep trouble and we're not even chasing the enemy. We're just bogged down in Baghdad with no hope of getting out under this administration.

Ouch! You tell 'em, Max!

Crooks and Liars has the video.