Instead, the White House encountered a Congress - and a public - that vastly rejected the military and political ideas he announced last week in a nationally televised address.

Most Americans oppose sending more troops to Iraq. The war was the dominant issue in the November election, in which Republicans lost control of the House and Senate.

"It's a complete absurdity to be pursuing the notion that somehow troops are going to resolve the security issue," said Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

When asked if the White House was ignoring the will of the American people, Cheney said no president worth his salt would make big decisions based on polls. "You cannot simply stick your finger up in the wind and say, 'Gee, public opinion's against; we'd better quit."

Bush announced last week he will send 21,500 more troops to Iraq to halt violence, mainly around Baghdad, as an essential step toward stabilizing the country's government.

That plan and economic and political steps are meant to allow Iraqis to move ahead with securing the country themselves and allow US troops to return home gradually.

Kerry and other Democrats say they want to start a phased withdrawal of troops, along with stepped-up diplomacy with Iraq's neighbors, to speed up the transfer of responsibility to Iraqis.

Like Bush, Cheney braced Americans to frame the war in Iraq as part of a much longer effort.

"It is the kind of conflict that's going to drive our policy and our government for the next 20 or 30 or 40 years. We have to prevail and we have to have the stomach for the fight long term," he said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, meanwhile, arrived in London for talks Sunday with Prime Minister Tony Blair on Iraq.

Hadley was interviewed on "This Week" on ABC and "Meet the Press" on NBC. Cheney was on "Fox News Sunday." McCain and Obama were on CBS' "Face the Nation." Kerry was on CNN's "Late Edition."

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