Today, while speaking at Fort Hood in Texas, Vice President Cheney resorted to old, tired arguments for staying the course in Iraq. But new comments by former Secretary of State Colin Powell — along with the declassified portions of the N.I.E. and Bob Woodward’s new book, State of Denial — contradict the Vice President’s claims that the United States must continue on its misguided course in Iraq. It’s time for a new direction.

Cheney Advocates Staying the Course in Iraq. Cheney: The terrorists “are making a stand now in Iraq, testing our resolve. And we have a lot of difficult work still ahead. But if we have learned anything from modern experience, it is this: The only way to protect this country against terrorism is to stay on the offensive, to pursue the enemy until there’s no place left to hide, and to stay in the fight until the fight is won.” [10/4/06]

Ø Colin Powell Says Staying the Course Isn’t Good Enough. “[S]taying the course isn’t good enough because a course has to have an end.” [Minneapolis Star Tribune, 10/4/06]

Cheney Says the United States and Its Allies Will Build a Free and Secure Iraq. “But the world can have confidence in the resolve of the United States. We will stand by our friends, we will help Iraqis build a nation that is free, secure and able to defend itself, we will confront our enemies in this and every other front in the war on terror. And, with good allies at our side, we will prevail.” [10/4/06]

Ø Colin Powell Says That Iraqis Must Ultimately Resolve the Violent Situation Themselves. “The United States and allies can not resolve the current sectarian violence in Iraq, former Secretary of State Colin Powell said today during a lecture in Minneapolis. ‘Only the Iraqi people can resolve this,’ Powell said. U.S. troops have to stay in Iraq for ‘some time,’ he said. ‘But there is a limit to the patience of the American people.'” [Minneapolis Star Tribune, 10/4/06]