Dick Cheney (file)

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has criticized Senate Democrats who have accused the Bush administration of purposely misleading the American public on intelligence leading up to the war in Iraq.

In a speech near Washington Wednesday, Mr. Cheney called allegations the White House manipulated intelligence to make the case for war "reprehensible."  He said lawmakers had the same access to intelligence regarding Saddam Hussein's weapons' programs and many arrived at the same conclusion to go to war.

In a statement released after Mr. Cheney's speech, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (of Nevada) accused the Bush administration of playing politics with the war in Iraq.  He urged the White House to stop "lashing out" at its critics and instead give American troops a strategy for success in Iraq.