Washington, Mar 19: US Vice President Dick Cheney and Democrat presidential candidate John Kerry crossed swords over the war in Iraq with the latter terming the Bush Administration as "arrogant" "At least this much is clear... had the decision (on going to war against Iraq) belonged to Senator Kerry, Saddam Hussein would still be in power today in Iraq. In fact, Saddam Hussein would almost certainly still be in Kuwait," Cheney said in California yesterday. He was refering to Kerry's opposition to the first Gulf War because he believed that intensified sanctions against Iraq must be tried first before unleashing military forces.

Kerry, for his part, referred to the absence of troops from major allies in Iraq and attributed that to the Bush Administration's "arrogance." Physical dangers and financial costs, said Kerry, should be shared by a broader international coalition which President George W Bush's "stubborn pursuit of the same arrogant policies" has not made possible.

"If we had built a true coalition," said Kerry, "those troops would not have to fight almost alone, and Americans would not have to bear, almost alone, all of the costs in Iraq." Bureau Report