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Dick Cheney’s “Battlefield Experience”
Aug 9th, 2009 | 35 responses
A couple of weeks ago, Time Magazine’s cover story was “The Final days of Bush and Cheney.”
It was a fascinating, intimate look at what TIME’s Managing Editor Richard Stengel himself describes as “The tale of the rift between George W. Bush and Dick Cheney…an inside look at the complex relationship that shaped so much of this decade.”
The special report also tells us “why the struggle over their legacy is just beginning.”
While the story touches upon several of the Bush administration’s monumental mistakes, lies and scandals, at the center of the story is the outing of CIA officer Valerie Plame; the trial of Cheney’s chief of staff I. Lewis Scooter Libby; and, most important, Cheney’s “pleading, cajoling, even pestering Bush” to pardon his former chief of staff—something that Bush steadfastly refused, to his credit.
The five-military-service-deferrals Dick Cheney, argued at one time, according to TIME: “We don’t want to leave anyone on the battlefield.”
I know that volumes have been written by the experts and the pundits since the article was published, but—as I have said before—it is oftentimes the regular American citizen, expressing himself in a Letter to the Editor, who really says it all, who really has the last word.
It is no different this time.
In this week’s TIME’s inbox, there it was:
I find it peculiar that Dick Cheney–who has never seen a battlefield in his life–would characterize Scooter Libby’s plight as leaving a soldier on the battlefield [Aug. 3]. During the G.W. Bush Administration, I was struck by the fervor for military action from an inner circle who had largely not served in the U.S. armed forces. The odd man out during the drumbeat for war was Colin Powell, whose long military career included serving in Vietnam and as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His voice of caution against entanglement in Iraq resulted in his getting pushed out by the “believers.” It’s too bad they didn’t listen to the one man who knew what he was talking about.
Lieut. Commander Eric L. Jewett, U.S. Navy (ret.) LOS GATOS, CALIF.
Well said, Lt. Cdr. Jewett, and thank you for your service
35 Responses to “Dick Cheney’s “Battlefield Experience””
Bush, Cheney and most members of that administration are text book sociopaths.
Lieut. Commander Eric L. Jewett, U.S. Navy (ret.)
Please, look up My Lai and read who handled the coverup. The correct term for his ambitious rise and willingness to cover up for his superiors is Egomania.
I read once that Bush longed to be a war-time president, because his dad's most glorious time in office was during the first gulf war, and because our great presidents served in wartime. I believe that it stung him when his dad was criticized for not finishing the job.
Is it possible that W believed the Iraq War would be over as quickly as Dad's war was? That would explain why there was no occupation plan.
Ironically, the strongest warnings against the invasion came from Brent Scowcroft — 41's NSA.
We have gone through this before, joeinhell.
General Colin Powell is a great military leader.
General Colin Powell is just another republican Lying Sack of Sh*t whose unwillingness to stand up to the Bush Administration and whose lies in front of the UN have caused the death of over 5000 Americans and that of at least half a million Iraqis.
Just another little Eichmann…
i have wondered why the Founding Fathers chose to give the President the most important military responsibility as Commander-in-Chief without stipulating some kind of military experience? the comment from Cheney is off the wall and just shows how disconnected he was from actual and the illusion. . . being from Texas i never sensed that President Bush or Vice President Cheney were military men, but rather cowboys. . . not to demean cowboys but growing up in that world, it is really easy to recognize, they are the guys that are always pushing or pulling something and too often makes things a lot harder than it ever needs to be . .
just my way of thinking. . . .
Empty rhetoric from a 5-defferrment chickenhawk. This man is no patriot, and ranks with such dignitaries as Robespierre, Torquemada and Pol Pot.
Here's the deal. Dick Cheney and George Bush SR [Mr. CIA during the Vietnam era and beyond] got together and picked the perfect dumbass [Dubya] to run the front man position. Dubya;s narcissim made him perfect for this role as head cowboy basking in the glory of the number one position while the actual leader, Dick Cheney, ran the joint from behind the curtain.
When you see Cheney pictured near Dubya, check out the look on his face as he stares with a cat-that-ate-the-canary look at Bush basking in all the media attention. Dubya took the fall for his father and Dick Cheney's shocking agendas.
My guess is this is why Dubya finally started not liking Cheney in the end. Narcissists are slow to warm up to this kind of manipulation because as long as they are getting happy attention or powerful attention they have no need to look further. It was when Dubya started getting criticized for things going south in Iraq and the economy that his narcissism forced him to look for someone else to blame..lol..
My guess is that someone clued him in finally to what was going on and instead of thinking his own father would set him up in this way, he was directed to vent on Dick. Which is fine with me. Yes, to his credit he didn't pardon LIbby. Seeing as how Dick wanted him to and he still refused tells you how deep the rift really does go between Dubya and Cheney. Narsos do the manipulating and when they find someone else is doing it to them they NEVER forgive being one-upped and mocked in this way.
Yes, pathological dysfunction truly is at the heart of it all. We had in Dubya and Dick a malignant narcissist and a sociopath running our country. It should be no surprise then to those familiar with these disorders of the personality just exactly what transpired and how we were nearly ruined. My suggestion is from now on that each presidential and VP candidate should undergo a basic psychological exam to determine if they have serious personality disorders that linger under the radar.
Colin Powell and Conde Rice are two people who are basically good and came aboard believing that Bush/Cheney were sane and then found out [after they knew too much] that they clearly were anything but sane. They are in the miserable position of knowing what they should do but fearing the consequences if they do. I say a good witness protection program for both of them, the best money can buy and then a trial of Bush and Cheney. We'll see what rats crawl out of what holes when that ship starts to sink..
Thanks for some very interesting/thought-provoking comments, Silhouette,
I had to smile (LOL?) at your “When you see Cheney pictured near Dubya, check out the look on his face as he stares with a cat-that-ate-the-canary look at Bush basking in all the media attention.” How appropriate and acccurate.
Are you a psychologist?
I agree on Colin Powell. Have mixed emotions on Condy.
I agree on Condi and Colin- but was disappointed that they didn't take a stand when they saw things going to H in a handbasket. Condi, I believe was too much of a loyalist to buck Bush in any significant way, and Powell was too used to the military system of obeying a commander without question.
I don't believe that Bush was a total dupe for the entire 8 years – he stood up to Cheney much more in his second term which is reflected in Cheney's pub lic disapproval of foreign policy decisions on NK and Iraq, and also in Bush's refusal to pardon Libby. Bush had barely traveled outside the country before taking office, which did make him vulnerable to the more experienced Cheney in his first term. I believe he was in total shock after 9/11, and that the ensuing power vacuum allowed Cheney to jump in.
By 2004, Bush recognized that an aggressive stance had alienated many of our allies instead of generating cooperation, and in his second term allowed the Sec of State Rice to represent HIS own agenda. Before that Cheney had usurped Colin Powell's role, with the notable exception of Powell's infamous speech to the UN.
Thus the normal checks and balances that keep an administration from overreacting were not in place.Diplomacy was not used as an effective tool until the second Bush term.
Well Conde at first was evil but then the evil became too much for her even and she started having regrets. And boy can't you see it on her face towards the end. Looks like they even had to medicate her to keep her from losing it. I agree, between the two, Colin is virginal..lol.. and Conde not so much. But either way they both have enough inside knowledge to fry those psychos like cockroaches under a maginfying glass. I'll be willing to forgive Conde under the “blind and stupid faithful republican” umbrella because I don't think malice was her intent. I think blind loyalty was [beware of blind loyalty BTW, borderline personalities sniff those out like a pig sniffing truffles] Conde's undoing. She wised up. Better late than never.
Sil-
I don't see her as evil-she was incompetent as NSA- but seemed to grow into the Sec of State position. She rejected attempts by Richard Clarke to alert Bush to the pending terrorist threat– and was caught totally unaware. Its sort of surprising that she was basically promoted to Sec State after that fiasco.
Her expertise has always been on the Soviet Union, which was not particularly useful in the Bush years.
Ah…there's more to that “pending terrorist threat” than meets the eye kritt. Read my previous post. Condi was most likely getting orders to ignore Mr. Clarke's warnings. And the person responsible for those orders? First name rhymes with “Sick”.
Great comments Silhouette.
Yes, I don't know if I believe the conspiracy stuff either– the whole reaction seemed to be a mix of incompetence, arrogance and a decision to advance a specific predetermined agenda (invasion of Iraq) and force the facts to fit that agenda.
There was definitely an inner circle and an outer circle in the administration. Cheney, Rummy, Condi,Tenet, Rove and Bush were inner— everyone else outer- and the outer folks were unable to get access to the president. Some of the cabinet heads WERE figureheads- so I agree with you there.
Sil-
I do believe that Bush is a narcissist– and that 8 years of living in a bubble with everyone fawning all over him did nothing to change that- but even as a narcissist he had to be worrying about his legacy. His second term was all about that.
Well yeah, that's kinda what I said too. But still a narcissist can worry but not be effective since when put to practical tasks they always have a much higher assessment of their performance than reality reflects so they tend to expect very little of themselves while expecting high praise for almost nothing…when you boil it down. And almost-nothing is what Obama was left with to fix. Now the spindoctors for the GOP will be quick to criticize him…and so on.
It's like the GOP is one big narcissistic unit if you think about how well that shoe fits..
I disagree with the conspiracy thing. I think Cheney and his backers, BigOil, had quite a gig going. Dubya was the perfect self-absorbed idiot who didn't care what was going on as long as he looked good. The “inner circle” merely thought they were the inner circle [most of them anyway] while really they were just a sham inner circle. The real inner circle was Cheney's little cooked-up branch of the CIA with it's private meeting area within that headquarters.
Those are the people who ran the country for 8 years. Dubya and the rest? Nah, they just thought they did. Cheney is good at what he does. I'll hand him that. And it's so outrageous that the beauty of it is that being unbelievable, no one will believe it, lest they risk being called “a conspiracy theorist” and wear the unfortunate garb that goes along with that label.
Fortunately I could give a rat's ass. I like getting to the bottom of things.
Sil- The Bin Ladens were estranged from Osama. They were whisked away because angry Americans wouldn't have cared about the estrangement.
There is a lot of coincidence— but as much as I dislike Cheney, I don't believe that he planned 9/11. It was very strange to me that he kept pointing to Iraq, though it was the Saudis who were responsible. I would like to see an investigation on the decision to invade Iraq- because Cheney and Rummy are too smart to screw up that badly.
Yeah, funny how things turn out eh? Why the decision to invade Iraq you wonder. Consider that Iraq was vulnerable enough to topple. That alone may have been the deciding factor. Saddam Hussein? Who was going to object to removing him and inserting a puppet BigOil regime sympathetic to US monopolies there? Iran was too stout to tangle with.
My way of thinking tells me that they, Cheneyco, figured that all they had to do was make cursory links to Saddam and Iraq via the ever slippery and convenient Al Qaida and a little lie about WOMDs and the otherwise complacent and easily duped american public would make little if any fuss about it. The trouble is that the internet got in their way. Seriously. I think those old codger's achilles' heel was that they simply had gotten away with this type of nonsense since even back before Vietnam [remember, Bush Sr.'s CIA hayday] and their top brass simply underestimated the finesse of the internet crowd to stay six steps ahead of their disinformation-campaign-as-usual.
I think it's that simple really. The internet screwed Cheney/BigOil's plans of tried-and-true simple deception. I remember back when CNN had intelligence PSYOPS people on staff. One of the things they were there to learn was how to interrupt broadcasts of satellite service….if memory serves..and that would include the internet. Remember, during the Cheneyco years the internet was still getting its footing as far as reaching mass numbers of the public. Not everyone was savvy and many still found getting their news here cumbersome and not the preference to the old monopolized news outets.
Now I'd say the majority of people use the internet daily and realize how easy it is to search subjects they're interested in and stumble across stuff they might never have before. Again, I really think the internet is the David and good old covert ops the Giant Ogre.
As I am not into this “stuff,” and I say that with a great deal of awe and respect to those who are, I was intrigued by the terminology used in this thread to describe the main characters of the Bush administration.
I my pedestrian post on Cheney's “Battlefield Exeperience,” about the most perspicacious (look it up, I did) words or terms I used to describe Cheney & Co, were: “The five-military-service-deferrals Dick Cheney,” and in a comment I described Colin Powell as “a great military leader.”
I had no idea that my post would evoke such an in-depth psychometric analysis of the Bush administration.
I thought it would be interesting to catalogue the various attributes ascribed to those characters.
George W. Bush: malignant narcissist, monopolistic profiteer, narso, sociopath, perfect self-absorbed idiot, head cowboy, dumbass…
Dick Cheney: 5-deferments chickehawk , malignant narcissist, Pol Pot, sociopath, apathic personality disorder, unpatritoc
Colin Powell: egomaniac, lying sac of sh*t, lil Eichman, no patriot, “virginal,” but also “basically good”
Condy Rice: “at first was evil…” ,”blind and stupid faithful republican,” loyalist
She came off the best
Sil–
I think you are missing the big picture. I was really paying attention back then, and live in the DC suburbs. Iraq was just supposed to be the beginning of the plan for regime change. Remember the Axis of Evil? Iran was supposed to be next. Bush and Cheney planned to remake the entire Mideast in our own image- or er sorry planned to “liberate” the entire Mideast. That was what alienated people like Sen Chuck Hagel who had seen combat and who thought they were totally on another planet.
It was justified in their minds by the actions of al queda and other extremist Muslim groups– and yes there were maps in Cheney's residence dividing up the oil rich regions among the multinationals.
I'm not saying that its not possible that it was a conspiracy– but I know that Bin Laden had spoken many times about how angry he was at the US and Israel for the bases in S.A., the subjugation of Palestinians and the death of a half a million Iraqi children due to US sanctions. I dont' see him making it all up for Poppy Bush and Cheney.
The commentary here is a little too hardcore left and emotional. It's a disservice to the term “moderate” and way too much like the Daily Kos, which is fine when it isn't pretending to be something else.
No, the commentary is just plain in your face factual. Labelling it far left is convenient to make it less credible somehow.
“Axis of Evil”. Code for “countries with oil”? You see there are far more oil-poor countries who harbor anti-american sentiments and who abuse and murder their citizenry but we're not there are we? No oil, no evil.
If you're going to launch a bogus attack that favors some of your corporate buddies the last thing you would call it is “Operation Oil”….duh! You'd give it a catchy name that ropes in as many supporters as possible. Particularly if you're going to dip into the public coffers to fund your corporate takeover. This is how things are done in DC. If you spent a lot of time there you should know that?
I think I see where this is going. I'm making some good points but the ones I'm making about the Big Elephant in the living room [Iraq invasion for oil] is “way off base” nutty, conspiracy-theory, far fringe left. etc. etc. etc. Is that how we remake the obvious nowadays? lol… The obvious speaks for itself. There were no WOMDs. They lied.
Now ask yourself the question: “why did they lie”? And then plug in the facts about Iraq's oil reserves, Cheneyco's ties to BigOil and all the rest. Plug it in and answer the question yourselves.
Sil-
I'm not arguing about the reason for the invasion– I just don't' believe that there was a conspiracy between Bush, Cheney and the Bin Ladens before 9/11.
I do believe that Cheney came into office hoping to find a reason to invade Iraq- which is why the evidence was formed around the facts. He camped out at the CIA with Scooter and forced the investigators to interpret the evidence his way. Cheney wanted Iraq's oil and would have gone into Iran if it were up to him. He was as Biden said “the most dangerous VP in our history”.
I don't know if he had personal gain in mind– but I do think we should never elect two oil men to office- because we will end up at war. We should have been weaning ourselves off of foreign oil – but instead we failed in our attempts to remake the ME.
I doubt he will ever be brought to justice for anything — he is still too powerful.
emzm-
Moderate on here just means that no one gets too angry about their views– it doesn't mean that everyone is a centrist. We get comments from all parts of the political spectrum.
And I agree with Sil that sometimes the right does try to pass the left's commentary off as far left wing nuttery- so that no one will believe it.
Yeah OK well it's hard to say about “pre-existing conditions” when it comes to Bush and Bin Laden. I tended to write it off as mere circumstance until just last Christmans when Israel was invading Gaza again, unpopularly this time, and the new incoming administration was not into fanning the flames…support was waning [stay with this theme as I will visit it again below]. Suddenly like magic when empathy for the Hamas was starting to show Osama Bin Laden [aka "the one all americans will galvanize to oppose on any issue he represents] pops up to announce support for Hamas and death to Israel. Pretty convenient for the Israelis whose seedy actions then were lacking the american support they're so used to getting..?
Now to the other incident that raised some eyebrows. Remember back in April that unscheduled high-security clearance landing our president made in Bagdhad? Remember the report of a string of “seemingly coordinated bombings” http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idU… the day before he landed there? Al Qaida [one presumes] sure did come in handy back when Cheney was really pushing for a “need” for our continued presence there. And the security leaks between our intelligence and Al Qaidas sure was interesting.
Then just last night I was watching Greta Van Susteren on Cluster-Fox [kudos to Olbermann..lol..] interview the hopeful candidate for Iraqi leadership and how members of his family have been killed every time he tries to speak out for peace between his country and Iran. He was certain that iranians were behind the killings and when she questioned him how he could be sure, he said that the weapons used to kill various family members had earmarks of those types imported or used through Iran.
With all the funny business that goes on over there, and Cheney wanting a reason to f with Iran, this just seems like another all-too convenient rabbit popping out of the hole at just the right time for his agenda. Get the hopeful leader for a peaceful Iraq to believe he is under assault from Iran and get him to say that on public american venue..Fox the king of disinformation [Greta often an unwitting or begrudging accomplice] has this bit. I thought, “interesting”. So this guy is dead sure that it's iranian weaponry used to kill his family members and he concludes absolutely therefore that Iran is behind it all.
It could be. But then again it seems so damned convenient to anyone who might want anti-iranian sentiments fanned within the general american public. Cheney may be powerful and may escape justice on this side of the veil. I hope for his sake that he lives a very very long time because when it's time to face the justice that none of us will escape, there will be no buying-off that judge and jury.. *shudder*
Five Time Deferment Dick Cheney is nothing but a big fat coward and compulsive liar who helped create lies about Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destruction just so he could start a war. Dick Cheney should be serving time in prison for the rest of his life for condoning and allowing water boarding which is against the Geneva Convention.
Then there is the former Idiot in Chief former President George Walker Bush who had his daddy get him into the Texas Air National Guard ten days before he was to be drafted and to go serve his country in Vietnam. Then George Walker Bush was also suspended from flying in 1971 due to substance abuse as he was a cocaine addict and as well was AWOL from the last year of his Guard Service though he had his records destroyed when he was Governor of Texas. How did some one who should have been in prison in Leavenworth for being AWOL ever become President but when you are part of the Bush Crime Family anything goes.
Barrymorris
Do you have any links to back this up, or is it just a rant?
kritt11: Why don't you take the time and research yourself like I did and then you will find the truth, but I forgot that most Americans are sheeple and are to lazy to find out the truth, just what the American Government loves uneducated hillbillies just like you.
Barrymorris-
Why don't you learn some etiquette before you come on a message board and discuss politics with a bunch of perfect strangers?
You might get you point across by informing me instead of insulting me.
to kritt11: Maybe you should take a look at your own comments first and then think before making comments in the future.
barrymorris-
I have no reason to. I have been commenting on here for years and know that Joe Gandleman's guidelines include focusing on the issues at hand and not on other commenters.
Perhaps a little feedback would help you tone down your comments in order to be more respectful of others here.
Dick Cheney and his antics sure get people talking. I've noticed that every time an article bears his name in the title, it gets mega-hits. People are mad at him because he is pure evil, responsible for thousands of deaths and walks around getting a paycheck from the american taxpayers. A healthy one too as I recall. Sorta rubs people the wrong way and gets 'em pissy..
With that said, then how do you feel about Sarah Palin as a presidential candidate? Wouldn't the same bunch of rats that crawled on board the W Express find their way into her administration, should the American public be so foolish as to actual elect her?