Q What if the Senate passes a resolution saying, this is not a good idea. Will that stop you?
VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: It won't stop us, and it would be, I think detrimental from the standpoint of the troops, as General Petraeus said yesterday. He was asked by Joe Lieberman, among others, in his testimony, about this notion that somehow the Senate could vote overwhelmingly for him, send him on his new assignment, and then pass a resolution at the same time and say, but we don't agree with the mission you've been given.
Q So you're moving forward no matter what the consequences?
VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: We are moving forward. We are moving forward. The Congress has control over the purse strings. They have the right, obviously, if they want, to cut off funding. But in terms of this effort, the President has made his decision. We've consulted extensively with them. We'll continue to consult with the Congress. But the fact of the matter is, we need to get the job done. I think General Petraeus can do it. I think our troops can do it. And I think it's far too soon for the talking heads on television to conclude that it's impossible to do, it's not going to work, it can't possibly succeed.
Q What was the biggest mistake you made?
VICE PRESIDENT CHENEY: Oh, I think in terms of mistakes, I think we underestimated the extent to which 30 years of Saddam's rule had really hammered the population, especially the Shia population, into submissiveness. It was very hard for them to stand up and take responsibility in part because anybody who had done that in the past had had their heads chopped off.
So it's the Iraqis fault. And the fact that Cheney et al lied to the world about its supposed evidence of Saddam's WMD along with the fact that this administration and its neocon supporters have so totally mismanaged this war has absolutely nothing to do with where things are at now.
Here's a bit of trivia. Guess who said this:
When asked why the United States should not invade Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein, a prescient critic said, "Once you've got Baghdad, it's not clear what you do with it. It's not clear what kind of government you would put in place of the one that's currently there.... How much credibility is that government going to have if it's set up by the United States military when it's there?... I think to have American military forces engaged in a civil war inside Iraq would fit the definition of quagmire, and we have absolutely no desire to get bogged down in that fashion.
The answer?
The critic was none other than Dick Cheney, who made these comments as Defense Secretary in 1991, explaining the first Bush Administration's decision to end the Gulf War after Iraq had been expelled from Kuwait.
Mr 'flowers and candy' and 'last throes' Cheney. What made him that things would be any different than what he predicted in 1991? Oh yes, I forgot. '9/11 changed everything'.
Q Here's what Jim Webb, senator from Virginia, said in his Democratic response last night. He said:
"The President took us into the war recklessly. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable and predicted disarray that has followed."
And it's not just Jim Webb, it's some of your good Republican friends in the Senate and the House, are now seriously questioning your credibility because of the blunders, of the failures. All right, Gordon Smith --
THE VICE PRESIDENT: Wolf, Wolf, I simply don't accept the premise of your question. I just think it's hogwash.
Related: Flailing McCain
[The] Senator from Arizona has gone on record as a staunch supporter of the Iraq war since the beginning but, as poll numbers plummet, he is now voicing his own displeasure over the war. He called the war Cheney’s "witch's brew" and "terribly mishandled". He also said that our troops on are the verge of a terrible defeat. The rant didn’t stop at the Vice President as he stated, "The president listened too much to the Vice President . . . Of course, the president bears the ultimate responsibility, but he was very badly served by both the Vice President and, most of all, the Secretary of Defense."
He added, “"Rumsfeld will go down in history, along with McNamara, as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history." It comes as no surprise that McCain lashed out at Rummy but Cheney, on the other hand, has usually earned kind words from McCain.
McCain also said although he supports the surge that President Bush is trying to push, he doesn’t know if it will work and also if its enough troops. He says that we can not afford to lose and that is why he supports the tactic.
Maybe if he stopped kissing Bush's butt, people would take him seriously.
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