Dole, a Republican, criticized "naysayers" who are pushing for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

"Much of this defeatist criticism is being leveled by the very same people who, having access to the same intelligence as the president, agreed that Iraq posed a real and immediate threat," Dole said in a Senate speech. "And these very same people supported going into Iraq to fight the war on terror. Now they want to throw up their hands and walk away before the job is done."

Dole's remarks were aimed at Democratic critics of the Bush administration's handling of the Iraqi war in general, and not specifically at former U.S. Sen. John Edwards, according to a Dole aide. Edwards came out this week against the war.

Dole said progress has been made in Iraq.

"A constitutional democracy is taking hold, and the Middle East is moving toward greater stability," Dole said. "It is integral to the continued progress in this region and to the overall war on terror that we not allow the cowardly acts of insurgents to derail our efforts."

Dole cited strong turnouts in Iraqi elections, the construction of 3,400 public schools, hundreds of water and sewer projects, 149 new health facilities and more than 250 fire and police stations.

Dole split Tuesday with her North Carolina colleague, Sen. Richard Burr, on a GOP measure urging that 2006 be a period of transition to Iraqi sovereignty and that the administration provide quarterly progress reports to Congress.

Dole voted with 78 of her colleagues for the measure, while Burr was one of 19 senators who opposed it.

"She believes we should send a message that progress is being made," said Lindsay Taylor Mabry, a Dole spokeswoman.

But Burr thinks that Congress is already being adequately informed about the progress, according to Doug Heye, Burr's spokesman.

There is considerable skepticism in North Carolina about the Iraqi war, according to a poll released Wednesday by the Civitas Institute, a conservative Raleigh-based think tank.

The survey found that 32 percent thought the most important reason the U.S. went to war was because of misleading information, 23 percent because of the war on terrorism, 18 percent for national security, 10 percent for oil and 9 percent to provide freedom to an Islamic country.

Perdue campaign gets richer

Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, a likely Democratic candidate for governor in 2008, raised more than $130,000 Wednesday night in Charlotte, according to organizers.

The fund-raiser was at the home of Patty and Tommy Norman. Tommy Norman is the head of a Charlotte development company.

The event included such party heavyweights as Crandall Bowles, a textile executive and wife of incoming University of North Carolina President Erskine Bowles; developer Cammie Harris; former ambassador Mark Erwin; state Sen. David Hoyle; state Sen. Dan Clodfelter; developer John Crosland Jr.; state Sen. Charlie Dannelly; and business executives John Tate III and Allen Tate Jr.

Perdue is one of three major Democrats thinking of trying to succeed Democratic Gov. Mike Easley, who is limited from seeking a third term. The others are state Treasurer Richard Moore and Attorney General Roy Cooper.

UNCW's safety spin

As ABC News' "Primetime" prepares to air a report on the 2004 killings of two UNC-Wilmington students, the school's chancellor, Rosemary DePaolo, has sent a letter to students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff and donors to reassure them about new safety measures at the campus.

"UNCW students have consistently said they believe UNCW to be a safe campus," she wrote. "On student surveys both before and after the murders, from 90 [percent to] 95 percent of UNCW students indicated they felt safe at UNCW. Data in our campus crime reports consistently back up the reality of this perception. Although one of the murders occurred on campus, UNCW is a safe campus, and, sadly, what happened to Jessie and Christen could happen anywhere."

The students, Jessica Faulkner and Christen Naujoks, were killed in separate incidents by male classmates who had stalked them.

The deaths prompted the campus, and the UNC system, to take steps to screen prospective students more closely -- in some cases, performing criminal background checks of applicants.

UNC-Wilmington has committed to spend more than $750,000 during the next two years to upgrade campus safety, including hiring more police officers. The campus will give course credit to students who take a rape awareness defense class.

"Primetime" is expected to air the segment tonight, UNCW officials say.