Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday aggressively defended the administration’s handling of Iraq saying there is no reason to “think that the strategy is flawed or needs to be changed.”

Cheney claimed that the White House, which last week asked for $87 billion in additional funding, had not underestimated the cost of war. He described the Iraq operation as a “major success” and claimed that Americans are being viewed as “liberators” in Iraq

He also continued to make long debunked allegations linking Iraq to the attacks of Sept. 11. At one point Cheney claimed Iraq was the “geographic base” for the Sept. 11 attack. And despite doubts from both the FBI and CIA, Cheney claimed that one of the hijackers, Mohamed Atta, may have met with an Iraqi intelligence officer five months before the attack.

Cheney however said little about Saudi Arabia’s ties to Sept. 11. He said “I don’t want to speculate.” He then went on to say Sept. 11 is “over with now, it’s done, it’s history and we can put it behind us.”

Cheney’s comment came as polls show hat Americans are more concerned than ever about the President’s handling of the Iraq situation. A new Washington Post/ABC News poll found six out of 10 Americans opposed Bush’s request for $87 billion.