Cheney daughter: Clinton lacks Iraq 'spine'

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16772743/

Cheney daughter: Clinton lacks Iraq 'spine'
Takes aim at both Republican and Democratic opponents of the war

WASHINGTON - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter accused Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of lacking "spine" on Iraq on Tuesday, three days after the New York Democrat launched her bid for the White House.

"Anyone who has watched her remarkable trajectory can have no doubt that she'll do whatever it takes to win the presidency. I wish she felt the same way about the war," Liz Cheney, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, said in an opinion article in The Washington Post.

Cheney took aim at both Republican and Democratic opponents of the war, warning that retreating from Iraq would hurt the United States in the broader war against terrorism and that any restrictions on the U.S. troop presence would aid terrorists.

But Cheney's attack on Clinton was particularly pointed, especially for such an early stage in the 2008 presidential campaign.

"I suppose Hillary Clinton's announcement was a sign of progress. In 2007, a woman can run for president and show the same level of courage and conviction about this war of her male colleagues have," Cheney wrote. "Steel in the spine? Not so much."