Cheney defends Iraq war, avoids failures

WASHINGTON - Former US vice-president Dick Cheney's autobiography presents a robust defense of his push for the US invasion of Iraq without critically examining two issues central to the near-failure of the United States in the war: The Bush administration's decision to disband the country's army and banish all members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.

In My Time is juicy reading for its harsh criticism of two secretaries of state, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, and one defense secretary, Robert Gates. Not surprising was Cheney's adulation of Gates' Pentagon predecessor, Donald Rumsfeld, the vice-president's political mentor.

Cheney's parting shot after decades of public service comes in the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the Sept 11, 2001, attacks. The book has rekindled debate over the rationale to attack Iraq in 2003 and the cost in US lives and dollars. It also has focused attention on whether the war diverted US attention from catching al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and eradicating the group's hideouts in Afghanistan and Pakistan.