Cheney, never one to shy away from a political fistfight, called it “a little bit disturbing” that the Obama administration had released some of the CIA memos “but they didn’t put out the memos that showed the success of the effort.” Cheney added that he was calling on the CIA to release the full memos regarding the interrogation practices and what results (if any) they yielded.
On Obama’s handshake with Chavez, Cheney said he “didn’t think much of it” but added, more broadly, that he was “concerned with the way that we’ve been represented overseas.”
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va) claimed that with the GOP in disarray Cheney was one of the only go-to people to defend the past administration’s record. That record would include hundreds of lies, the most corrupt administration in modern history, a trillion dollar war based more on Cheney and the Right’s ideologically bent imaginations then any real threat. By all means let Cheney speak as often and freely as possible. Each bombastic episode allows for the opportunity to remind people that if Richard Cheney has what passes for a conscience, one that the Right holds up as an example of what they stand for, Republicans will continue to lose support.
“Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction.”
– Dick Cheney, August 26 2002. In 2005 Bush orders WMD search team home after not being able to find them for two years.
“Saddam had an established relationship with Al Qaeda, providing training to Al Qaeda members in the areas of poisons, gases, making conventional weapons.” – Cheney in October 2003. Exhaustive review finds no link between Saddam and al Qaida
An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein’s regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaida terrorist network.
Dick Cheney’s record of veracity, personal honor and patriotism is somewhere between Benedict Arnold and Soviet spy Aldrich Ames.
Cheney exemplifies the Right’s national security split personality in regards to national security. They want to project a U.S. image of invulnerability, yet freak out over a hand shake. President Obama seems to understand the Right’s childish insecurities, Obama defends greeting Hugo Chavez
A running theme of the summit was Obama’s cordial dealings with Chavez, who once called former President George W. Bush the “devil” and who last month dismissed Obama as an “ignoramus.” The two were photographed smiling and clasping hands.
[ ]…Republican Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, appearing on CNN on Sunday, said it was “irresponsible” for Obama to be seen “laughing and joking” with the Venezuelan president.
[ ]…The U.S. has nothing to fear from Venezuela, a large supplier of crude oil to the country, Obama said.
“Its defense budget is probably 1/600th of the U.S.,” he said. “They own [the oil company] Citgo. It’s unlikely that as a consequence of me shaking hands or having a polite conversation with Mr. Chavez that we are endangering the strategic interests of the United States.”
That said, Obama aides were not so charitable toward Chavez. In a background briefing earlier, one senior official accused Chavez of performing for the cameras.
Let’s say the bizarre paranoia of Cheney and Newt Gingrich are correct. Do they see Venezuala invading the U.S. That would be the shortest war in U.S. history. One U.S. air craft carrier has enough fire power to level every major population center in Venezuela. A handshake is doesn’t make that reality disappear. The initial invasion of Iraq was relatively easy, it was the guerrilla style street fighting combined with sectarian warfare that bogged down U.S. forces. Once again its the double standard that has been in play for fifty years. Any talks a Democratic president has with a foreign power are considered a sign of weakness. Republican overtures to the same foreign powers are considered accomplishments of oh so wonderful Conservative statesmanship, History Professor Gingrich Falsely Claims U.S. Presidents Don’t ‘Smile And Greet’ Russian Leaders
Dr. Gingrich, who has a Ph.D. in European history, should re-read his history books. As the Cold War waned, President Reagan (whose foreign policy Gingrich repeatedly praises) met with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at four summits, leading to nuclear arms reductions. President George H. W. Bush negotiated the Start II treaty alongside Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and President Clinton discussed foreign investment with Yeltsin. President Bush, of course, said he saw into Vladimir Putin’s soul after a private engagement. (photos at link)
Gingrich also notes the dropping of trade barriers with China. A feat that Republicans love to brag about. China is now a communists country politically, a very repressive one at that, but is an authoritarian capitalist state economically. Another reason why it is difficult to have much respect for the tea smokers who voted year after year for Republicans who were always at the front of the line defending as pro business, the exportation of American jobs to China. Obama shakes some narcissistic South American’s hand, but much like Cheney’s business dealings with Iraq, Iran and Syria, Conservatives have always bent over graciously for any wacko that would put on little more cash in their accounts. All the while accusing anyone of questioning their policies as being a God hating traitor. Cheney Calls for Release of ‘Torture Works’ Memos
Former Vice President Dick Cheney isn’t satisfied with the release of the latest batch of Bush-era Office of Legal Counsel torture memos by the Obama administration last week. Now, he says, the government should release more memos — this time not just the ones describing the torture, but also the ones that say how successful it was.
This is a school yard bluff. Cheney knows that no such memos exist. We know that torture was not effective. Not only were inhumane and illegalal interrogation techniques not effective, they endangered and likely contributed to the deaths of U.S. armed forces, Torture motivated more terrorism,
Matthew Alexander, an Air Force senior interrogator who was in Iraq in 2006 wrote: “I learned in Iraq that the No. 1 reason foreign fighters flocked there to fight were the abuses carried out at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Our policy of torture was directly and swiftly recruiting fighters for al-Qaeda in Iraq.”
Alexander further wrote in his November 30, 2008, Washington Post op-ed that “[i]t’s no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse.”
If there are memos that claim thousands of Americans were saved by torture, that the information could not have been gathered by interrogation techniques prescribed by the Military Field manual, then bring them on. It is odd that Cheney could have produced such memos while in office, but did not. Or the intelligence that would justify his claims that Iraq had an active WMD program or a collaborative relation with al-Qaeda. Could we get those memos too. Heck, could we even get those missing e-mails between the White House and Alberto Gonzales.
The Long Goodbye 