Cheney: Senate Resolution "Won't Stop Us"

Vice President Says It's "Hogwash" To Say Bush's Credibility Is At Stake In Iraq

(CBS/AP)  The White House reaction to the Senate resolution opposing President Bush's decision to send more troops to Iraq came from Vice President Dick Cheney. In a word, he was defiant, saying about the general idea of a resolution, "It won't stop us."

"We are moving forward. The Congress has control over the purse strings. They have the right, obviously, if they want, to cut off funding," Cheney said Wednesday in an occasionally testy CNN interview.

"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."

If the president was almost humbly pleading with Congress in Tuesday's State of the Union address to give his plan a chance, CBS News chief White House correspondent Jim Axelrod says the vice president played what has come to be his typical role: the enforcer.

He dismissed suggestions that the Bush administration's credibility is on the line because of mistakes in Iraq as "hogwash."

And he railed at critics for not coming up with a plan of their own for Iraq.

"The critics have not suggested a policy — they haven't put anything in place," Cheney said. "All they've recommended is to redeploy or to withdraw our forces. The fact is, we can complete the task in Iraq. We're going to do it. We've got (Lt. Gen. David) Petraeus — Gen. Petraeus taking over. It is a good strategy. It will work. But we have to have the stomach to finish the task."

Cheney acknowledged the situation in Iraq was very unstable but said toppling Saddam Hussein had been the right thing to do. He said he trusted Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who he said had demonstrated a willingness to take on lawbreakers regardless of their religious or ethnic affiliations.

The vice president said the biggest mistake the United States has made in the war was underestimating the psychological effect Saddam's regime had on Iraqi citizens.

"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," he said. "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."

Asked about Osama bin Laden's whereabouts, Cheney said he believes bin Laden is alive, but would not speculate about whether he might be hiding in Afghanistan, Pakistan or along their shared border. "I don't want to be that precise," Cheney said.

On other topics, the vice president said he does not think Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York would make a very good president "because she's a Democrat."

"I don't agree with her philosophically and from a policy standpoint," he said.

Cheney bristled when asked to respond to critics who question his daughter Mary's decision to have a baby and raise it with her female partner. "I think you're out of line with that question," replied Cheney, who said he was delighted about having a sixth grandchild.

[dallison7]

A tyrant (Latin tyrannus, from Greek %u03C4%u03CD%u03C1%u03B1%u03BD%u03BD%u03BF%u03C2 t}rannos) possesses absolute power through the people in a state or in an organization: one refers to this mode of rule as a tyranny.

[zippcarona]

Do you actually think these criminals will give up power in two years? When Bush%u2019s term is about to come to and end a terrorist attack in the USA will happen with the result of suspended elections, marshal law and fearless leader Bush claiming he will give up power as soon as this crisis is over %u2026ya right %u2026..you heard it here first.

[zippcarona]

Do you actually think these criminals will give up power in two years? When Bush%u2019s term is about to come to and end a terrorist attack in the USA will happen with the result of suspended elections, marshal law and fearless leader Bush claiming he will give up power as soon as this crisis is over %u2026ya right %u2026..you heard it here first.

[zippcarona]

Do you actually think these criminals will give up power in two years? When Bush%u2019s term is about to come to and end a terrorist attack in the USA will happen with the result of suspended elections, marshal law and fearless leader Bush claiming he will give up power as soon as this crisis is over %u2026ya right %u2026..you heard it here first.

[zippcarona]

Do you actually think these criminals will give up power in two years? When Bush%u2019s term is about to come to and end a terrorist attack in the USA will happen with the result of suspended elections, marshal law and fearless leader Bush claiming he will give up power as soon as this crisis is over %u2026ya right %u2026..you heard it here first.

[zippcarona]

Do you actually think these criminals will give up power in two years? When Bush%u2019s term is about to come to and end a terrorist attack in the USA will happen with the result of suspended elections, marshal law and fearless leader Bush claiming he will give up power as soon as this crisis is over %u2026ya right %u2026..you heard it here first.

[parrotknows]

It's morning in America. The coffee is perking and it's time to wake up. Te truth about the events of 9-11 is the ONLY way to wake up America at this point. It requires only a 10th grade education to understand the scientific principles involved that explain everything about how the Twin Towers fell at freefall speed, an impossibility without the use of explosives in a controlled demolition. A billiard ball falls freely through the air from the top of the towers in 9.22 seconds. The towers fell in 10 seconds. How can 80-90 floors of award-winning steel frame construction fall as fast as a ball with NO resistance whatsoever? It can't. Not possible. The explosives were set to blow from top to bottom in 10 seconds.

Go to www.st911.org, read The New Pearl Harbor by David Ray Griffin or Towers of Deception by Barrie Zwicker.

It's your patriotic duty to learn the painful truth. Millions around the world know and many are speaking out and writing intelligently. Learn who the real conspirators are and why they did it. Possible nuclear war with Iran is just around the corner and last week the Society of Atomic Scientists moved the "Doomsday Clock" ahead TWO minutes. It's 5 minutes till midnight, this is serious stuff and YOU can help to stop it.

The percent of American's who understand this

[istt]

I share the sentiments with most of those who have recently posted. I find it hard to believe the position the US is currently in. Congress must stand up and act. Cheney and the Neocons are leading us in a direction that spells disaster. We have no business telling Iran or any other leadership in the world how to run their country. If Iran does develop nuclear weapons, as Israel and the US has, then we must deal with those issues when they arise. But the notion that we will act as thought police around the world is truly frightening. Have any of you seen the story that the US is right now trying to have the UN pass an international Holocaust Denial Law that will condemn anyone or any country that is deemed offensive regarding this issue? Is this still the US of America? Whatever happened to free speech, the cornerstone of our society and any free society? Something is very wrong when the so-called open societies of the West want to brutalize countries in the East for expressing their viewpoints. Are people really this stupid?

[inventagod]

"Constitution? America don't need no stinkin constitution!" - Shotgun *** Cheney, PNAC leader and possibly the top traitor the USA has ever known

[skyk-2009]

This Nazi had better understand ONE thing, going against the American People has CERTAIN and ABSOLUTE results, especially if you fail. The hatred for this pathetic Loser in this nation is so great, I think there would be a big cheer if he just fell over dead. Hasn't happened because even the old Devil doesn't want him!

[dallison7]

Vice President/******** Cheney is a ruthless businessman. "They can't stop us" is a product of the thought process of such people. Never a thought for what is right, or what should be done. Forge forward, accomplish set goals, push the envelope and be constantly aware of how far you can go and how to beat down any opposition. A just end for this moron/*** would be a massive coronary at the very instant that they hand him back his Halliburton stock. Then his fatbutt wife could go somewhere and be ugly all by herself.

[plowhandle]

Cheney won't pay attention to the Constitution of the US...so why would he think a Congressional mandate was anything but "hogwash"?

He - and his Republishit Party - are morally bankrupt and on the way out for at least the next fifteen years. He knows this - he's the relatively smart one of the duo that is currently in power. That's why he looks like he has a stomach ache all the time...he's miserable.

Major coronary around the corner, I figure - - and hope gladly for. He deserves it.

[karlimhof]

Once we clean out the Augean Stables of Neocon Washington along with the political class that adheres or sympathizes to their anti-American and Anti-Constitutional philosophies of "pre-emptive war" and "providing liberty and democracy by military means", we should take some suggestions proposed by Noam Chomsky to help us get back on track with the rest of the world;

1- accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and World Court
2- sign the Kyoto accords
3- let the UN lead international crisis action
4- use diplomatic & economic measures against terrorism
5- keep to traditional interpretation of UN Charter
6- give up SC veto at UN and show a decent respect for world opinion
7- cut back military spending, increase social spending

[mh4cbs1]

JAIL the NeoCon Fascist!!

Why does America let this creep get away with his War Crimes. He is the puppet master - Bush is ignorant, arrogant and easily manipulated by Cheney and the NeoCons.

Congress has the power to say NO to this War.

[donbrx]

To lieberman18:
Your loyalty to the Vice President, I assume, is based on a belief that we should not criticize out leaders; such dogmatic loyalty to a head of state, wheather it be a US Vice President or an Iranian mullah, is equally blinding. I plead that you consider the results of the policies: indeed the Vice President's arguments for launching pre-emptive war (WMD, ties to 9-11), points about "tremendous progress"..and on and on...compared with the utter destruction of life, tens of thousands INNOCENT people killed as a result of our nation's reckless and inhumane actions in Iraq, my my my we could go on...billions of dollars lost to the US in cost....it's certainly a catastrophe. AND now he says the Senate resolution "won't stop us"...elected officials can not stop the administration? Lieberman 18, if you want to blindly support a leader despite what most of humanity rightly sees as their inhumane actions....if blindly pledging allegiance to your leader is your thing....please, I suggest a few nations where you would be more comfortable: Syria, Iran ,North Korea. Despite your vociferous 'loyalty'...that is NOT what the US is supposed to be about.

[gdmoore2]

Cheney is just old and angry, blowing off steam against the press, fate, a failed neocon ideology, and anyone who dares to question him. What do you expect? He is not going to say that everything in which he vested his reputation is failing. When Bush and other Republicans get desperate, they will hang primary blame for the Iraq war on Cheney. And do not lose any sleep over Cheney's fate. He gets his Halliburton stock back in 2 years.

[nyckate]

Cheney still thinks that either he or Bush still have any credibility?? LOL - oh man, proof positive that Cheney is truly delusional!!

[teeus]

I don't know, lieberman18. Cheney's comment sounds pretty dictatorish to me.

[lieberman18]

watch your language, Dallison. That's the Vice President of the United States, not Ho Chi Minh. But then again, that's the rant, spew, and rage of the Left coming out.

Obviously you didn't learn very much in the Corps.

[dallison7]

"Won't stop us"??? Did you just say 'f*ck you America' you fat f*cking fascist slob pig?