BANGOR (AP) – Citing progress by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that America must stay the course in order to protect national security.

Cheney focused on defense and the war on terrorism in a half-hour speech to Republican loyalists that was laced with barbs aimed at Democrat John Kerry and praise for President Bush.

“Let me also say we have an absolutely outstanding secretary of defense in Don Rumsfeld,” he said. Cheney made no mention of the disclosures about U.S. treatment of Iraqi prisoners that have spurred calls for Rumsfeld’s resignation.

Cheney said the administration’s achievements following 9/11 included creation of the Department of Homeland Security, passage of the Patriot Act, the ouster of the Taliban in Afghanistan, destruction of al-Qaida training camps and the removal from power of Saddam Hussein.

“Iraq will be a free and independent country, and America and the Middle East will be safer because of it,” he told the cheering crowd of about 300 in a maintenance garage at Bangor International Airport. “We are standing for freedom and security, and that is a cause we are proud to serve.”

Cheney praised the nation’s service personnel and the people of Bangor who have welcomed them at the airport on what is sometimes the first stop on their return home from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Echoing a theme from TV ads aired in Maine and other battleground states, the vice president said Kerry has voted to cut vital weapons systems, including Aegis destroyers built at Bath.

“These are not times for leaders who shift with the political winds, saying one thing one day and another the next,” he said. “We need a commander-in-chief of clear vision and steady determination, and that’s just we have in President George W. Bush.”

During an earlier stop in Hollis, N.H., Cheney focused on domestic issues, expressing optimism about the latest figures on job growth.

In a 13-minute speech at Diamond Casting and Machine Tool Co., Cheney credited the Bush administration’s tax cuts with paving the way for the 288,000 jobs employers created around the country last month.

The $1,500 per-person tax cut doesn’t seem like much, “but it does when you have to send it to Washington,” Cheney said. “We were right to send it back.”

“The Bush tax relief is working. The economy is moving in the right direction. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” he said.

He urged Congress to make the cuts permanent, and called for fewer government mandates and regulation and for reforming medical malpractice claims.

His speech to about 200 invited supporters and plant workers didn’t mention Iraq or allegations of prisoner abuse there.

The only sign of dissent was a handful of protesters from the Sierra Club and New Hampshire Peace Action who stood across the street from the plant.

Jim Giddings of Greenville, who was carrying a peace flag, said the Bush administration has created a warfare state that relies on a military solution for everything, and whose economic policies have made the job situation intolerable.

New Hampshire, with its four electoral votes, is considered a tossup in the general election. Bush, who barely won the state in 2000, already has made two trips to New Hampshire this year, and presumptive Democratic nominee John Kerry has returned once since his primary victory in the Jan. 27 New Hampshire presidential primary.

Bill Shaheen, state chairman of the Kerry campaign, called Cheney out of touch with American workers.

“For the vice president to come here and tell us how the administration has done great things for the economy is just ludicrous,” Shaheen said in a telephone conference call.

He acknowledged the job picture is improving, but said that just means job losses during Bush’s term will be fewer than the previous projection of 3 million.

“Now he’s only losing 21/2 million,” Shaheen said. “Big deal.”

AP-ES-05-10-04 1914EDT