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LoungeMachine
11-24-2005, 06:12 PM
Cheney: If U.S. Troops Come Home, Osama Bin Laden Will Rule Iraq


Vice President Cheney made a striking claim at the American Enterprise Institute:

Those who advocate a sudden withdraw from Iraq should answer a couple simple questions. Would the United States and other free nations be better off or worse off with Zarqawi, Bin Laden and Zawahiri in control Iraq? Would we be safer or less safe with Iraq ruled by men intent upon the destruction of our country.

Cheney didn’t provide any evidence supporting his claim. The suggestion is that if the U.S. leaves, Iraqi forces would be completely incapable of defending the country against terrorists. Yesterday on ABC, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld said people who doubted the capabilities of Iraqi security forces were “flat wrong”:

People who denigrate their competence and capability are flat wrong. They’re making a mistake. They either don’t understand the situation or they’re trying to confuse it, but the Iraqi security forces are well respected by the Iraqi people. They’re doing a very good job.


:rolleyes: :rolleyes::rolleyes: :rolleyes:

LoungeMachine
11-24-2005, 10:36 PM
Cheney takes center stage in Iraq debate

By Mark Silva and Stephen J. Hedges
Washington bureau
Published November 23, 2005, 7:53 PM CST


WASHINGTON -- Vice President Dick Cheney, known for his deft exercise of power in the shadows, has suddenly re-emerged as a caustic and combative defender of the administration's war policy, and in the process has taken center stage in the nation's painful, angry debate about Iraq.

His stern, unbending activism, once seen as an advantage, now is being questioned, even by some who were early proponents of the Iraq invasion.

Larry Wilkerson, once chief of staff to former Secretary of State Colin Powell, said the vice president, along with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, heads a cabal "of extreme nationalistic...and messianic" voices within the Bush administration.

"This is a very efficient cabal,'' Wilkerson said in an interview. "Unquestionably, this is the most unique aspect of this administration. [Cheney] is the most powerful vice president in the history of this country." The cabal, Wilkerson said, "cows'' military leaders and runs roughshod over bureaucrats.

Cheney declined an interview, and his aides declined to comment on the vice president's negotiations with Congress and critics within the administration. But a senior administration official says Cheney will continue to confront critics and press his case for the war.

"He's not the kind of person who is distracted by something like this," said Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator from Wyoming who served while Cheney was the state's lone House member. "He has strong beliefs. He will keep doing what he has been doing."

Cheney's highly public insertion into the war debate came shortly before Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), a 73-year-old decorated Marine veteran and Pentagon supporter who has served in Congress for 31 years, called for an immediate pullout of troops.

Murtha ridiculed Cheney for attacking war critics such as himself, noting that the vice president is a "guy who got five [military] deferments."

Cheney seemed to soften his criticism in response, praising Murtha as "a good man, a Marine, a patriot." But the vice president also repeated his incendiary charge that some war opponents, those who say the administration manipulated intelligence, are "dishonest and reprehensible."

While such hard-line language fires up the conservative base that remains fond of Cheney, it does not appear to resonate with much of the country. Polls show Cheney is less popular than Bush, who himself is suffering from the lowest ratings of his tenure.

Further, Cheney's image has not been helped by such moves as his decision to attend an upcoming fundraiser for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas), the indicted former House majority leader. A cartoon in The Washington Post recently showed a glowering Cheney, angry that Bush had pardoned the Thanksgiving turkey.

Even among Republicans, 80 percent in a Nov. 11-13 Gallup survey said they approved of Bush's job performance, while 68 percent approved of Cheney's. And a majority of all 1,006 voters surveyed rated Cheney's advice to the president as "bad.''

In recent weeks, Cheney and his aides have been accused of everything from exposing the name of a clandestine CIA operative to spying on the e-mail traffic of colleagues on the National Security Council.

Cheney's former top aide, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, has been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice. Cheney's involvement in gathering and disseminating information on the CIA operative, who is married to a war critic, remains uncertain.

Officials at the State and Defense Departments have also groused about Cheney's opposition to a move to ban torture in the handling of detainees. Career diplomats have expressed worries about the implications of Cheney's position for the U.S. image abroad.

The vice president also has frustrated congressional Republicans with his insistence that the CIA remain exempt from the torture ban, which 90 senators have sponsored. That fight has put Cheney directly at odds with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a popular figure, former prisoner-of-war and presidential hopeful.

Wilkerson, a Vietnam veteran who once ran the Marine Corps War College, said Cheney's position is disturbing. "Where does a guy who [has] been in the Congress, been in the Defense Department, where does a guy come up with publicly lobbying the Congress of the United States to allow torture?'' Wilkerson asked.

But Cheney's supporters say he is merely seeking a balance that allows the U.S. to fight terrorists effectively.

"On the one hand, we don't want to give up any legal means to gain actionable intelligence that will save American lives," said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), one of nine senators to heed Cheney's exhortation and oppose the McCain amendment. "I want to use every legal means to get that information. But that does not include torture or inhuman treatment.''

Cheney has been somewhat controversial from the beginning of Bush's presidency, when he led a secretive White House task force on energy policy. But his toughness, which initially played well, may be more of a liability now that Bush's policies are less popular.

Hardrock69
11-25-2005, 03:33 PM
Well, firstly Cheney and his wind-up monkey (Chimpy) would have to prove that Bin-Laden is still alive.

It was announced through International Media reports in December of 2003 that he was dead.
:rolleyes: