Cheney, GOP'ers Warn Against Firing Rumsfeld

Vice President Dick Cheney said Saturday that critics of the U.S. military's treatment of captured Iraqi terrorist suspects were wrong to blame Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, saying they should "get off his case."

"Don Rumsfeld is the best secretary of defense the United States has ever had," Cheney said in a statement issued by his office. "People ought to get off his case and let him do his job," he added.

Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Pat Roberts, R-Kan., warned that forcing Rumsfeld to step down could hurt military morale and encourage America's enemies.

"I'm wondering what would be the effect on the troops," he told ABC's "This Week." "I'm wondering also what would be the effect in regards to the terrorists. ... No, I don't think he ought to resign right now."

Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said it was a bad idea to sack Rumsfeld, telling NBC's "Meet the Press" that it would take so long to confirm a replacement that it would hurt the war effort.

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