With the mid-term elections a week away, Vice President Dick Cheney has claimed that anti-U.S. forces in Iraq have increased their attacks in order to influence the result of the election.

• Dick Cheney: “Whether it’s al Qaeda or the other elements that are active in Iraq, they are betting on the proposition they can break the will of the American people. They think we won`t have the stomach for the fight long-term… It’s my belief that they’re very sensitive of the fact that we have got an election scheduled. And, you know, they can get on the websites like anybody else. There isn’t anything that’s on the Internet that’s not accessible to them. They’re on it all the time. They’re very sophisticated users of it.”

The Vice President offered no evidence to back up his assertion.