Here are some excerpts from that interview conducted by Newsweek's Richard Wolffe in the West Wing office of the vice president the day after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution opposing the Bush administration's new troop deployment in Iraq. The transcript is courtesy of the White House's own transcription service, with all excerpts printed in their full quotation:"Q: Let's start with Iraq, if I may. There's a lot of skepticism on the Hill, even inside the administration about the Iraqi Prime Minister's abilities, desire to take down the militias. Some people have said the militias have put him into power, so why would he take them down or want to take them down. So what gives you the confidence to think that he can actually be up to the job?
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, I think we've got a lot of people who want to judge the success of the Maliki administration after some nine months in office. I think it's a little premature. I think he has been direct and forthright in responding to our concerns. I think there is some evidence that he's already beginning to act in terms of, for example, Iraqi forces rounding up as many as 600 members of the Jaish al Mahdi in the last couple of weeks. His commitment to us is to go after those who are responsible for the violence, whoever they may be -- whether they're Baathist or former regime elements or militia, Shia militia or criminal elements. and I think at this stage, we don't have any reason to doubt him.