I am actually somewhat sympathetic to Dick Cheney’s view that a group of people in Yemen who train and finance terrorists who murder, or attempt to murder, U.S. citizens should not be treated as common criminals. The problem (and that it is a problem should be obvious by now) is that every attempt Cheney made to treat acts of terror or suspected terror as acts of war failed miserably during the Bush administration. Whether it was the reputational cost of Guantanamo and secret prisons, or the mistreatment of and denial of due process to prisoners, or the attempt to set up special courts, or the effort to abrogate the fourth amendment, the Supreme Court refused to endorse any of it.
So, while I agree that international non-state financed terrorism presents troublesome challenges, it ought to be clear that Dick Cheney is advocating lawlessness that has already been adjudicated. In other words, he’s just politicizing our national security. And, considering that he’s committed many crimes, we really should not have to tolerate this. Someone else can make these arguments in the court of opinion. Cheney should be making his case in a court of law. A self-respecting country would demand nothing less.
I watched dick this morning in the interview referenced and I was somewhat surprised at his mild manner and contemplative answers, a little softened and nuanced than previously, especially in his speeches, however all positive feelings (and I use that loosely) were wiped away when he said he was still in favor of waterboarding in interrogations. I ask how a citizen of the United States and ex vp, can stand up there (and not be completely shamed and shunned) and be in favor of torture is beyond me and certainly cannot understand the medias acceptance of his validity on anything else when he holds that core value so juxtaposed against what US is “supposed” to stand for.
The reason for no shame is because he thinks there is nothing wrong with what he did. The fact that he did not have to answer in a court of law proves it. That is Obama’s fault.
The Mafia and its successors also train and finance murderers. Some of these are even called “soldiers” by their sponsors. Does that make them warriors? Hardly. I don’t understand why anybody would want to promote them, or the likes of Tim McVeigh, or the Sept 11 bombers, from their true place as psychopathic murderers to “warriors”. The attempt to do so is the root of the failures, not the screwing up of the details. We and the world would be better off if we had treated the common criminals as what they are from the beginning. I believe the drive to turn them into “warriors” was simply a way to justify a stupid military response, and to pretend that the likes of Bush and Cheney are something more glorious than common criminals.
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How can Cheney utter such words of deceit …
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."You’re always very good, Oui.
It’s not just the first Gulf war that’s slipped down the memory hole, our support for the Baath party as a counterweight to Soviet influence is an earlier and more significant part of the story.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2008/3/25/65724/5604
We didn’t just support Saddam in his war with Iran, we created him to some extent. We, to use a trope for the authors of misbegotten U.S. foreign policy, were responsible to some degree for installing Saddam, and I was reminded of this again recently while reading Legacy of Ashes.
There’s a special court for people like Cheney… The Hague.
Cheney should be making his case in a court of law. A self-respecting country would demand nothing less.
Finally, something I can agree with again!
This too: The fact that he did not have to answer in a court of law proves it. That is Obama’s fault.
And this: There’s a special court for people like Cheney… The Hague.
My 2 cents.
The only thing that I know that Cheney has done in is his lifetime that I fully approve of is when drunk and armed he shot a lawyer in the face.