

The families of 4,000 American troops are coping with the deaths of sons, fathers, daughters, brothers and wives. Countless thousands of Iraqi families share a similiar fate. But to Dick Cheney, "the president carries the biggest burden, obviously" during this war – not the people who actually fight it, or their kin.

"I want to start with the milestone today of 4,000 dead in Iraq.

Americans. And just what effect do you think it has on the country?"

asked ABC News' White House correspondent, Martha Raddatz...

"It obviously brings home I think for a lot of people the cost that's involved in the global war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan,"

Cheney said in the interview, conducted in Turkey. "It places a special burden obviously on the families, and we recognize, I think — it's a reminder of the extent to which we are blessed with families who've sacrificed as they have."

"The president carries the biggest burden, obviously," Cheney said.

"He's the one who has to make the decision to commit young Americans, but we are fortunate to have a group of men and women, the all-volunteer force, who voluntarily put on the uniform and go in harm's way for the rest of us."