Vice President Dick Cheney visited Offutt AFB, Neb., Tuesday, praising US Strategic Command and 55th Wing personnel and other military personnel for their displays of “courage and character,” which he said are the US military’s “decisive element” not its equipment. He commended “Team Offutt” in its role in the war on terror. The core of his remarks was the sentiment expressed by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to the American Legion, namely that the enemy at hand cannot be “ignored, or negotiated with, or appeased.” (Read Cheney’s remarks here.)
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
