Cheney fielded questions in Iraq yesterday:

A Marine, Cpl. R.P. Zapella, asked, "Sir, what are the benefits of doing all this work to get Iraq on its feet?"

Cheney said the result could be a democratically elected Iraq that is unified, capable of defending itself and no longer a base for terrorists or a threat to its neighbors. "We believe all that's possible," he said.

This is incredible to me.  I don't believe for one second that under Saddam, Iraq was a base for terrorists - they would have been a threat to his power and he would not have stood for that. 

As for wheher Iraq was a threat to its neighbors, I hardly think so if they didn't in fact have weapons and we were patrolling the no-fly zones.

Honestly, Cheney's answers are incredible in the sense of the word, not credible.  It begs the question that is not answered:  what are the benefits of what we are doing there?

If Cheney can't give a real honest answer, then we must presume that the answer is either "no benefit" or it's an unmentionable oil-related benefit that no one likes to talk about.

Jeez!