Slog - Comments on Dick Cheney on Iraq

Comment by Carollani

Carollani — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:33:10 -0800

Mrah-rah-rah-cheney snack-rah-rah-wrah.

Comment by Fnarf

Fnarf — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:35:28 -0800

The current wingnut line is of course that there's no way anyone could have foreseen the trouble we're having there, and that it's all their fault.

Comment by Matt from Denver

Matt from Denver — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:46:13 -0800

Damn, most of what he predicted came true. So the question is why did he change his mind less than 10 years later?

Comment by bing

bing — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:54:29 -0800

or, dan, you could've read the article bush senior and brent scowcroft wrote for time magazine about why they didn't topple saddam:

http://www.millat.com/ghalibcom/events/iraq98/why_we_didnt_remove_saddam_.htm

you, too, could've been right about the outcome of our current war! of course, then you'd be lumped in with all us dirty hippies and Deeply Unserious people who got it right from the get-go.

oh well, sometimes things just don't turn out the way you hoped when you agitate for mass slaughter. win some lose some.

Comment by christopher

christopher — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:56:39 -0800

Holy fucking dogshit. I've never seen clearer proof that these guys are lying with every breath these days. He lays out the case for not going to baghdad so strongly it's obvious he knew Iraq would disintegrate going in. Question now: Why would he want that to happen? ...
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Comment by brandon

brandon — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:02:43 -0800

this is clearly a satellite transmission intercepted from a parallel universe. unfortunately it looks like we got stuck with evil dick cheney and they get the sensible [but probably still pretty evil] dick cheney.

Comment by Gomez

Gomez — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:05:42 -0800

What 3 and 5 said. He totally knew what was going to happen if we invaded Iraq... so I wonder what changed. I'm not sure any of us has the answer to that.

Comment by Mahtli69

Mahtli69 — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:12:33 -0800

What changed were more no-bid contracts for Haliburton and better stock options for their former CEO. They were guaranteed to make billions in Iraq, regardless of what happened.

Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney!

Comment by christopher

christopher — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:18:18 -0800

There's no question Dick & Pals made gravy off invading Iraq, and they did net a lot of short term political gain (& long term at least in the Supreme Court). But the Iraq war going bad (as they knew it would) has almost certainly cost them direct control of the government for at least another decade. Was it worth it? I mean, we know Dick ain't gonna be alive the next time a GOP candidate wins. Does he have enough money to sooth the itch that will cause him? There's gotta be more to it. I think. Mebbe.
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Comment by keshmeshi

keshmeshi — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:28:06 -0800

They were counting on perpetual war ensuring perpetual support for the Republican party. Apparently, it is possible to overestimate the stupidity of the American people.

Comment by christopher

christopher — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 10:30:54 -0800

Keshimeshi- You think so? Cheney always seemed, to me, too smart to make that mistake. But it's the most believable idea I've heard. Thanks.
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Comment by Jude Fawley

Jude Fawley — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:00:11 -0800

Wow, that guy sure knew what he was talking about. They should have consulted him before Iraq War II.

In seriousness, this would have been a good clip to include in "No End in Sight" - unfortunately that movie did not look at the key question of why they bungled it.

Regarding whether they overplayed and lost the support of the public, I am doubtful. I think that unfortunately these guys are not dumb enough to only have one trick (Iraq) up their sleeve. They have not only been successful in the Iraq biz; they have also limited civil liberties, expanded executive power, and possibly fucked with our voting system. This is an example of a "long con", and we don't know the consequences yet. I am not at all sure that Republicans will loose the White House in 08... or whether that will make a difference, long term.

Comment by duh

duh — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:39:32 -0800

9/11. However it happened, 9/11 gave Cheney the ability to avenge dead Americans and send more into the meat grinder "with the fucking stars and stripes behind him" as Peter Grant once said.