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last night, former vp dick cheney received the center for security policy’s ‘Keeper of the Flame’ award. after accepting the award, he gave a very direct speech aimed squarely at the dithering obama administration titled ‘putting politics over security’.
dick cheney blasted the chronically lying obama administration for their claims that the reason they’re taking so long on afghanistan is because they had to come up with a strategy from scratch. no only is this NOT true, the obama administration was given a top-to-bottom strategic review of afghanistan done by the bush administration in 2008! obama’s transition team asked the bush administration to not make it public until his incoming administration had a chance to review it and the bush folks complied.
dick cheney never minces his words. he even said that obama ‘seems afraid’ to make a decision on afghanistan, instead he dithers while american troops are in harms way. the complete text or transcript of dick cheney’s speech can be found here.
dick cheney says we can win in afghanistan if we have courage. i believe that don’t you? but apparently the obama administration has little courage when it comes to afghanistan. they seem to be able to only muster a smug-like bravado over the war with foxnews! their constant dithering and indecisiveness signals to our enemies abroad that we are weal, making us vulnerable and less safe.
i love dick cheney and his family. i think he has a lot of courage to confront this feckless administration time and time again — calling out their lies. he’s a man of steel and proving himself to be a real advocate for the american people.
when will the obama people stop lying? when will they stop blaming the bush administration for their own incompetence?
Who cares if the elections were corrupt ? Does it matter who won or if the level of cooperation from the new administration will be of any more help than the last one ?
Does that mean that everything stops in its tracks til these guys pull their heads out ? Hiding behind this bull that they have to wait for the runoff gives me reason to believe that “The One” wants things to get so bad it’ll look like pulling out will be the best choice. Either that or hes making deals for Obamacare over the lives of our troops. By now I dont give a sht if they listen to Biden and go with strategic air strikes or send in more troops, just do something already !
And then the enemy gets to hear these idiotic interviews where hes saying he may not have a decision for weeks. Anything else you wanna tell em you fricking idiot ?
Cheney, of course, was part of an administration that had 7 years to produce a successful conclusion in Afghanistan. Instead, they left us a mess. Cheney is a documented liar with his “we, in fact, believe that Saddam Hussein has reconstituted nuclear weapons.” The “Keeper of the Flame” award is given out by the Center for Security Policy which is headed by one of Cheney’s biggest sycophants, Frank Gaffney.
Here are some undisputed facts, presented in their order of occurrence:
1. With Dick Cheney as its CEO, Halliburton was on the verge of bankruptcy.
2. In 1999, George W. Bush appointed Dick Cheney to head up an exploratory committee to find a running mate.
3. The committee chose Dick Cheney.
4. Upon assuming office, Dick Cheney convened an energy policy task force, the members of which were hidden from public knowledge.
5. Shortly thereafter, White House rhetoric was aimed at Saddam Hussein and Iraq.
6. Our country was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001.
7. Key members of the Bush administration (including Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush, and Rice) began advocating an invasion of Iraq to “protect” the United States from terrorist attacks.
8. George W. Bush ordered the United States military to invade Iraq in March, 2003.
9. Halliburton was awarded multi-billion dollar federal contracts without being subjected to competitive bidding.
10. Dick Cheney (who was still being awarded a deferred salary from Halliburton) and his cohorts got rich(er).
Smell a rat?
A_Reluctant_Pundit says: First of all Dick Cheney doesn’t speak for this American! He needs to go home and take the battery out of his pacemaker. He’s done enough thanks. President Obama is looking at all the risk assessments for Afghanistan and is being prudent on loss of life. He needs to just bring them home and fight a targeted Taliban or AQ campaign using Predator and Hell Fire missiles.
“Cheney is a documented liar with his “we, in fact, believe that Saddam Hussein has reconstituted nuclear weapons.””
Saying you believe something is not a lie.
“1. With Dick Cheney as its CEO, Halliburton was on the verge of bankruptcy.”
whats that got to do with anything ?
“2. In 1999, George W. Bush appointed Dick Cheney to head up an exploratory committee to find a running mate.
3. The committee chose Dick Cheney.”
And so ?
“4. Upon assuming office, Dick Cheney convened an energy policy task force, the members of which were hidden from public knowledge.”
Yet this adminstration with all its promises of transparency and open doors has been anything but
“5. Shortly thereafter, White House rhetoric was aimed at Saddam Hussein and Iraq.”
And so ? Rhetoric was aimed at him long before and many times during the Clinton adminstration where he was also considered be a threat.
“6. Our country was attacked by terrorists on September 11, 2001.”
No thanks to the previous administration who after numerous attacks, here and abroad, let Al Queda go unchecked for 8 years while they planned the 911 attack
“7. Key members of the Bush administration (including Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush, and Rice) began advocating an invasion of Iraq to “protect” the United States from terrorist attacks.”
Yes, and for 8 years no terrorist attacked us.
“8. George W. Bush ordered the United States military to invade Iraq in March, 2003.”
We know.
“9. Halliburton was awarded multi-billion dollar federal contracts without being subjected to competitive bidding.”
the Army Corps of Engineers is required to allow a number of companies to compete for Army contracts. But, as the Army explained, in times of emergency, when national security is involved, the government is allowed to bypass normal procedures and award contracts to a single company, without competition. The Army claimed the contract was awarded without competition because of a “national emergency” created by the pending war with Iraq. So, while President Bush spent months before the war wrangling with United Nations inspectors and calling for international support for an invasion, the Army somehow found it had little time for competitive bidding on the RIO contract.
“10. Dick Cheney (who was still being awarded a deferred salary from Halliburton) and his cohorts got rich(er). ”
He made nothing off the Iraq war
“Smell a rat?”
yea, for about 9 months now
“He’s done enough thanks. President Obama is looking at all the risk assessments for Afghanistan and is being prudent on loss of life.”
Thats why casualties have gone higher than ever before under his watch
Jane says: Dick Cheney didn’t earn the nick of “Darth Vader” for nothing. He is just terrifying. Thank goodness he is no longer in a position of power. He sounds more like the bad guy in a spaghetti western than a former Vice President.
PenniePan says: Why are Darth’s speeches even news? He must really hate America and the effort the President is trying to do here. You would think a former Secretary of Defense would be more caring about the loss of life then rush, rush, rush to war. It’s time for people to just stop listening to this Dick.
Paul says: Thanks for covering Cheney’s remarks Kate. It really is a clarion call as to why we should NEVER vote republican again. What credibility does this person have about Afghanistan when it was his own power hungry influence over Bush that nearly destroyed our country’s reputation and moral compass? Give me a break.
cassiopeia says: What does success in Afghanistan mean?
In looking at the needs of that country it seems like it needs for more then 40,000 troops. I hate to sound pessimistic but it seems to big an undertaking.
” What credibility does this person have about Afghanistan when it was his own power hungry influence over Bush that nearly destroyed our country’s reputation and moral compass? Give me a break.”
What credibility ?
He kept your rump safe for 8 years.
Yeah, the moral compass is right on point today isnt it ?
What kind of morals does it take to let soldiers die while you stand around with your finger up your a$$ ? The majority of the country does not approve of the way Obama is handling Afghanistan. 34% of the public does approve of the way the president is handling the war, 49% disapprove. That’s down from a 37% approval rating last week.
Our reputation cant be that bad, 21 other countries went to war with us.
The Bush administration had 7 years to successfully conclude the conflict in Afghanistan. It proved to be too much for them. Cheney can say whatever he wants, but at this point, only the most obstinate of fools can imagine he has any authority or credibility.
Also note that the Center for Security Policy awarded convicted felon Scooter Libby, whom even Junior could not excuse, the award of “Service before Self.”
That tells you everything you need to know…
As Ronald Reagan said, Cheney is an unindicted war criminal.
gene says: we’ve been there 8 years with no end in sight, only bloody escalation, and still no one defines success in afghanistan. let’s get the hell out of there while we can.
Margarette says: Dick, the dick, Cheney had his chance to fight for his country back during Vietnam but instead he cut and run with his five military deferrments. He had 8 years to do something about Afghanistan (seeing as how he basically ran the country) but being the chickenhawk that he is, foolishly invaded Iraq instead. It’s now time for Dick, the dick, Cheney to keep his ignorant opinions to himself. Thank you.
Paul says: “What credibility ?
He kept your rump safe for 8 years.”
Cheney did NOT keep me safer. Cheney never lifted his finger to keep anyone safer. As someone said, he was a chickenhawk, 5 times over. We are more at risk today then ever before. If anyone thwarted attacks, it was men and women on the streets doing a lot of leg work on terrorist cells. I get really tired of your sweeping statements Micky especially since you have nothing ever to back them up but a bunch of links from your right wing site.
David says: I’m no big Cheney fan & I agree that the administration had a number of years to bring that conflict to some sort of identifiable resolution.
But it is ALSO true, and very very important and significant what was noted in an earlier post: Quoting Dade who said, “7. Key members of the Bush administration (including Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush, and Rice) began advocating an invasion of Iraq to “protect” the United States from terrorist attacks.” to which
a truthful and SOBERING response was written:
“Yes, and for 8 years no terrorist attacked us.”
I find it difficult to argue with that success!
So you say Paul, But us in the real world know that the efforts of the Bush adminstration did in fact keep us safe for 8 years, unless there was an attack somewhere you’re not telling us about.
“We are more at risk today then ever before.”
Thats right, would you like me to explain to you why ? You walked right into that one, didnt you ?
“I get really tired of your sweeping statements Micky especially since you have nothing ever to back them up but a bunch of links from your right wing site.”
And what do you have ?
Nothing but opinionated bla bla bla.
That came from the WSJ bub, not a right wing site.
“If anyone thwarted attacks, it was men and women on the streets doing a lot of leg work on terrorist cells.”
Yeah, you forgot about that huge piece of legislation that gave em the tools to do so. The patriot act ? yeah, thats right, the one Obama keeps using after he said it was so bad during his campaign. No disrespect to our troops and those on the streets but we do work on a chain of command buddy and everyone gets credit.
Like it or not
“It’s now time for Dick, the dick, Cheney to keep his ignorant opinions to himself. Thank you.”
The same could very well be said for you. Especially if Obama gets his way. Hes already trying to shut down parts of the media and anyone with contrary opinions.
David says:
a truthful and SOBERING response was written:
“Yes, and for 8 years no terrorist attacked us.”
I find it difficult to argue with that success!
We could argue about the success of the Bush administration, but let’s not. Why? Because it is not relevant to the question at hand. That is, Cheney is not the person from whom we should seek advice about how to fight the war in Afghanistan. He already f*cked it up, but good!
Just ask retired General Paul Eaton, who said Cheney was an “incompetent war fighter.”
You’ll also notice that there aren’t a lot of the regular conservative participants of this blog that are leaping to Cheney’s defense. Even many Republicans know that Cheney is radioactive juju, baby. Radioactive juju.
“He already f*cked it up, but good”
How convenient that you’d like to set parameters to help make your case by saying its not relevant to argue that the Bush Admin kept us safe.
Of course you its relevant you silly rabbit. You cant just make up your own rules as you go along.
If you’re going to bash the competence of the Bush administration any fool could see that its quite fitting to remind you that Cheney and Bush, the head of that administration did in fact keep us safe regardless of what you think the situation is now.
I wouldnt get to high and mighty about this, as Bush said and even your own messiah has said that this war may not be over during his admin.
There is no in and out solution to Afghanistan and there never will be.
I think it would be safe to say that the biggest f up so far has been the casualty rates which undoubtedly have risen under this command.
Another f up thats pretty hard to ignore goes to the crux of this matter is how after bringing in McCrystal to be the voice in what needs to be done he ignores the guy for months during the highest rate of casualties ever, only talks to him once in that time period after telling everyone months before hes waiting for the generals assesment. Now as casualties remain much the same and Obama is still sitting around with his finger up his a$$ hiding behind this crap that we have to wait for the runoffs from the Afghani election.
What a steaming pile of sht. The war goes on regardless of what happens with the runoff as you can bet whichever candidate prevails the same strategy could apply to either one.
Its all bullsht because hes busy trading political favors at the cost of American lives.
This loser couldnt hang with Cheney if his life depended on it, or anyone elses.
Man do we miss Cheney… Having a couple adults running the White House meant that the rest of us could sleep.
As a point of comparison…Joe Biden recently declared the recession over by saying that we are now in a ‘depression.’ The leftist luntics that thought GWB was stupid have put their faith in the Obama Hype machine and in Biden’s idiocy.
With Cheney, we weren’t attacked for eight years. With the current level of incompetence running Washington (Obama, Pelosi, Biden et. al) we are at significant risk of another mass attack.
The whole point of this is: Cheney is no longer in office. The Bush Administration is gone. It is the Obama Administration and their continued tactics of blaming the previous administration for its problems is – juvenile.
Former President Bush inherited a nightmare that took 8 months to unfold – because of the incompetence of the Clinton Administration in dealing with terrorism, the events of 9/11 happened on another Administration’s watch. Yet you never heard Bush complain about the mess Clinton left behind. He just dug in and did what he had to do.
Which is what Obama needs to start doing. He needs to start acting like a President, man up and make a decision about Afghanistan. He’s had a recommendation from the field for over a month now – and he’s known what the new strategy should look like since he took office.
And while our Caesar fiddles and his wife does the hula hoop – 40 Americans died in Afghanistan since McChrystal’s report was released.
Kris in New England says:
The Bush Administration is gone. It is the Obama Administration and their continued tactics of blaming the previous administration for its problems is – juvenile.
Then, in the VERY NEXT SENTENCE, says this:
Former President Bush inherited a nightmare that took 8 months to unfold – because of the incompetence of the Clinton Administration in dealing with terrorism
Now THAT is hilarious!
PenniePan says: For the last 9 years you people gave passes to Shrub by blaming Pres. Clinton for everything. At least have the decency to be consistent. HA! What was I thinking??? Neocons are the biggest fakes in the world. Consistency is beyond them.
“Former President Bush inherited a nightmare that took 8 months to unfold – because of the incompetence of the Clinton Administration in dealing with terrorism”
Dade;
“Now THAT is hilarious!”
Too bad its really true.
After recieving numerous warnings, being attacked overseas, the Trade towers, Clinton did nothing but bomb a pill factory and some houses.
The first attack on the Trade towers took place 4 years before 911 was even a thought. Had Clinton attacked Afghansitan and created the Patriot act like Bushs di its safe to say that 911 more than likely never would of happened.
Sure, you can use the excuse that its a big IF. But if you’re intellectualy honest you’ll admit that the odds are 911 would of never happened if the right response was issued.
The bottom line is this Dade.
Bush didnt go bellyaching like a little girl blaming Clinton like Obama blames Bush for everything…did he ?
“For the last 9 years you people gave passes to Shrub by blaming Pres. Clinton for everything. ”
Bullsht.
Find me one quote where Bush blamed Clinton
PenniePan says: Read for content Loser. I said “you people” blamed Bill Clinton. One example is not taking out Bin Laden before 9/11. You are such a blowhard.
“Read for content Loser. I said “you people” blamed Bill Clinton. One example is not taking out Bin Laden before 9/11. You are such a blowhard.”
yeah, read for content silly, not taking out Bin Laden before 9/11 is exactly the point. Taking out Bin laden was something that Clinton had 8 freeking years to do after being attacked numerous times here and abroad.
When we suffered one attack and Bush jumped right into action taking the biggest chunk out of radical Islam ever in our countrys history while not allowing one attack on our soil in 8 years.
Thats not something Bill Clinton will ever be able to say.
Get the point ? (of course not).
If anyones a loser its clearly your incomprehensible self who can never argue a point without name calling. We all try at every thread to go into it on a civil note and you never fail to be the first one to start calling people names and sht.
“us people” are represented by the Bush administration which never played the blame game like your patheitc “always the victim” party.
A blowhard to you is anyone who dare make a legitmate argument and drive it home with credible sources and references.
Today its “you people” and your messiah who are the ones with such a dysfunctional administration your only recourse ever is to blame someone else.
Enough already, the people are tired of it, they can see thru your crap. They want results, not anymore of your pathetic excuses. Your messiahs numbers have been plummeting every day to the point where less than half the country likes what hes doing
Dade – why is that so funny to you? Because you left on the reason I made that statement about Bush and Clinton – Bush never blamed Clinton for 9/11.
Which just proves that liberals really do like to change what people say to fit their own narrative.
Sorry – above that should be “left out the reason…”.
Liars do tend to make me shake a bit.
Ken says: Nobody said we should “seek Cheney’s advice”. He’s an American and perfectly entitled to voice his opinion, stop crying about it.
As far as “inheriting” problems, every president: Obama, Bush, Clinton, Bush Sr., etc inherits the problems of the previous administration. The difference is nobody but Obama has whined about it. Every time some problem comes up, the dems blame Bush and divert attention, as usual.
He wanted to be president and now that he is, all he can do is whine about Fox news or Bush. We have a callow child as president whose only response to our problems is to blame the Republicans. He complained about not enough troops in Afghanistan where “the real war” is. Now he’s not so sure. True to democratic form.
God help us all.
“He needs to go home and take the battery out of his pacemaker.”
Wishing death on someone. You stay classy, lefties!!!!
Ken says: Cheney more popular than Biden!!!
“Biden’s average favorable rating during his time in office so far is 45 percent — well below the average 65 percent favorable rating for Vice President Dick Cheney during Cheney’s first year in office.”
Ouch! That’s gotta hurt!!!!!
Just wanted to say thanks for this post – wandered on in through the “Bloggers for Sarah Palin” blogroll and had to say that this blog was a great find, this post especially. It isn’t often I run into bloggers who take Cheney seriously, and I feel they really should – he kept us safe and helped conduct two wars as best he could. The Obama administration would be wise to stop blaming him and start consulting him.
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