Cheney: Why are you talking so tough now?

By: Dianne
Published On: 8/8/2007 9:14:47 AM

For those of you whose lips curl at the mere mention or sight of Dick Cheney, Democratic Central has done some interesting research and found a speech that Cheney gave in Seattle in 1992 regarding what should be done about US involvement in Iraq.  Boy I know that I'm going to use his words then against his words now.  It's a must read diary over there!

What would we do without the Internet and how it makes research so easy and even possible?  Good work Dem Central.

Comments



Check Out This Keynote Address (norman swingvoter - 8/10/2007 4:11:34 PM)
This is a transcript of a speech cheney gave in 1991 at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.  Check out the section, "Did We Go Far Enough?"  He probably was the one of the closest people to identify what could go wrong in removing sadam.  It's too bad he didn't follow his own advice!

http://www.washingto...



Interesting Quote (norman swingvoter - 8/10/2007 4:57:23 PM)
I haven't read the speech recently but here is a quote from the above section.  The President is bush's father.

"I think it is vitally important for a President to know when to use military force. I think it is also very important for him to know when not to commit U.S. military force. And it's my view that the President got it right both times, that it would have been a mistake for us to get bogged down in the quagmire inside Iraq."



Worth posting Cheney's words from your citation (soccerdem - 8/10/2007 5:12:04 PM)
I think that the proposition of going to Baghdad is also fallacious. I think if we were going to remove Saddam Hussein we would have had to go all the way to Baghdad, we would have to commit a lot of force because I do not believe he would wait in the Presidential Palace for us to arrive. I think we'd have had to hunt him down. And once we'd done that and we'd gotten rid of Saddam Hussein and his government, then we'd have had to put another government in its place.

What kind of government? Should it be a Sunni government or Shi'i government or a Kurdish government or Ba'athist regime? Or maybe we want to bring in some of the Islamic fundamentalists? How long would we have had to stay in Baghdad to keep that government in place? What would happen to the government once U.S. forces withdrew? How many casualties should the United States accept in that effort to try to create clarity and stability in a situation that is inherently unstable?

Thanks for the post.

I think it is vitally important for a President to know when to use military force. I think it is also very important for him to know when not to commit U.S. military force. And it's my view that the President got it right both times, that it would have been a mistake for us to get bogged down in the quagmire inside Iraq.