Dec. 5, 2007
Cheney: Iraq To Be Self-Governing By 2009
Politico: Vice President Calls Surge Strategy “A Remarkable Success Story”
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Vice President Dick Cheney stands in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Monday, Nov. 26, 2007, as President Bush and Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, not shown, met. (AP)
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Second In Command
A closer look at Vice President Dick Cheney's career and his much-publicized health problems.
Vice President Cheney today predicted Iraq will be a self-governing democracy by the time he leaves office, calling the current U.S. surge strategy “a remarkable success story” that will be studied for years to come.
In an interview with Politico, Cheney offered a remarkably upbeat view of Iraq, despite continued violence and political paralysis in the war-torn nation.
Cheney, who has been widely criticized for overly optimistic - and sometime flat wrong - projections in the past, sounded as confident as ever that the Bush administration will achieve its objectives in Iraq.
“I am fairly confident we’ll have [Iraq] in a good place, where we’ll be able to look back on it and say, 'That was the right decision. It was a sound decision going into Iraq,'” Cheney told us in a 40-minute White House interview.
Sounding a note of caution, the vice president said: "We've got a lot of work to do. We're sort of halfway through the surge, in a sense. We'll be going back to pre-surge levels over the course of the next year."
But Cheney said that by the middle of January 2009, it will be clear that “we have in fact achieved our objective in terms of having a self-governing Iraq that’s capable for the most part of defending themselves, a democracy in the heart of the Middle East, a nation that will be a positive force in influencing the world around it in the future.”
All of that by 2009? “Yes, sir,” he replied.
It was a remarkable prediction by any measure, and one that is certain to infuriate congressional Democrats.
Nearly as surprising, Cheney said he has no reason to question the intelligence released this week showing that Iran is not an imminent nuclear threat, putting him at odds with conservatives such as presidential candidate Fred Thompson of Tennessee and others who have raised doubts or disputed the findings.
“I don’t have any reason to question what the [intelligence] community has produced,” he said. “Now, there are things they don’t know. There’s always the possibility that circumstances will change. But I think they’ve done the best job they can with the intelligence that’s available."
However, the vice president said the administration is "still concerned" about Iran's enrichment activities.
"We still think there's need to continue the course we've been on to persuade the Iranians not to enrich uranium," he said. "The long pole in the tent in terms of developing nuclear weapons, traditionally, historically, has been developing fissile material, either highly-enriched uranium or plutonium. In this case, they're embarked upon the program to develop uranium, obviously."
Asked how badly the NIE would complicate the administration's strategic objectives, the vice president replied: "We don't get to say we only pursue those policies if they're easy. It's very important, I think, and the president clearly does, that we proceed down the road of trying to persuade Iran diplomatically to give up their efforts to enrich uranium. That has not changed. There's nothing in the NIE that said we should be -- not be concerned about their enrichment activities."
Cheney said the assessment was released because “there was a general belief that we all shared that it was important to put it out - that it was not likely to stay classified for long, anyway,” he said.
Cheney said that “especially in light of what happened with respect to Iraq and the NIE on weapons of destruction,” officials wanted to be “upfront with what we knew.” He said he agreed that was “the right call.”
So you thought it might leak? “Everything leaks,” he said with a chuckle.
Suggesting the intelligence has been over-interpreted in some quarters, Cheney said he thinks it’s “important to be precise in terms of what it means.”
For instance, he pointed out that the NIE “doesn’t deal with” the effort to persuade Iran to give up efforts to enrich uranium. He pointed to a footnote in the NIE that reads: “For the purposes of this Estimate, by ‘nuclear weapons program’ we mean Iran’s nuclear weapon design and weaponization work and covert uranium conversion-related and uranium enrichment-related work; we do not mean Iran’s declared civil work related to uranium conversion and enrichment.”
Cheney, in a seemingly relaxed and unhurried mood, chatted in his shirtsleeves, not wearing glasses, with his big chair swiveled to the side to meet his visitors.
His private office was dominated by a Christmas tree decorated with berries, pinecones and birds.
He talked at length about Congress for a story to be posted tomorrow morning and that will appear on the front page of Politico for Thursday’s edition.
By contrast to President Bush’s paper-free Oval Office desk, Cheney’s is a working desk, stacked with reference and reading material, including a pictorial directory for Congress and the latest issue of Politico.
On the lighter side, Cheney said he is reading “The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War,” the recently released final work of the late David Halberstam.
Copyright 2007 POLITICO
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See all 180 CommentsIf his mouth is open LIES are falling out.........You''re a mean one Mr. Grinch...
Bush and Cheney''s exit plan:
They are going to leave the White House in Nov. 2008 and retire as multi-millionares from their kickbacks and stock options in Halliburton and Exxon.
And when exactly has ANY prediction by this moron even remotely come to pass?
Remember "last throes", "welcome us with roses", WMD...the list is endless.
Mr. Cheney... PLEASE SHUT UP!
The problem for the Democrats on this is that they invested themselves in defeat. The reasons we went into Iraq or Afghanistan dont even matter amymore. The candidates distance themselves from the war issue more and more every day. By next November, Illegal Imigration, Taxes and the Economy will be what is on voters minds. Not the war against Islamic Fascism.
Taking sides with the enemy is never a good thing especially when you share the same enemy as your enemy.
Iraq will be self governed by 2009. All of your candidates know this now but they still need your votes to win.
Right after the Democrats take the USA back from the Saudis...
Ask yourself why all the Socialist candadates are backing off on the war? They know its a loosing issue for them regardless of how we got in there. They still need your votes though. Yes they will keep throwing you a hate Bush and Cheny bone once in a while to get your vote but at the end of the day it wont matter.
You can thank the American Soldier and Marine for beating back the enemy in Iraq.
Posted by killtheliars at 12:33 PM : Dec 06, 2007
It will NEVER be nullified so long as Bush is in power. don''t you even wonder why the Iraqis would agree to such a scheme when their population has consistently wanted AMericans out since we invaded?
BECAUSE IT IS THEIR AZZ THAT''S WHY. Those who collaborate with foreign invaders can only survive with the presence and protection of the invaders. When we go...if they have not built up Saddamesque like private armies, then the public would tear them limb from limb for selling out.
Al Maliki is ours and the rhetoric and bluster he sometimes gives Bush is just a sham. The only way Iraq deters from the Bush cookie trail is if the public overthrow the puppet gov we put in place. (AL Maliki was NEVER elected--appt 1 year after elections at request of the US). But the Iraqi public would not do that so long as we and our 175K to 200K are still there. As the military said many times: "if we leave, it will be a bloodbath for all who helped us." translate that to the Iraqis will make all traitors pay.
If you call a puppet regime propped up by tens of thousands of nuclear armed troops "self-governing."
Darth Chickenshithawk is a proven liar. The man simply has zero (0) credibility.
Cheney, go crawl in your hole and die!
Once again, NeoCons like Bolton have been exposed as serial liars, obsessed with their mission of getting President Bush to strike Iran before he leaves the White House in January, 2009.
The sudden, and unexpected, release of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran''s nuclear energy programs should be viewed as a declaration of war on the NeoCons'' fading credibility, and an extremely public attempt to destroy what remains of their power, and influence, in Washington today.
Cheney: Iraq To Be Self-Governing By 2009
Cheney and his crystal ball what a loon!
If you call a puppet regime propped up by tens of thousands of nuclear armed troops "self-governing."
Posted by gkc99 at 12:57 PM : Dec 06, 2007
They''ll be as self governing in 2009 as they are a sovereign democracy now:
1. Where the people have no voice and what Al Maliki and his cabal wants rules
2. Where Al Maliki blusters then does whatever Bush says
3. Where Al Maliki can get "surprise visits" from any other leader in the world and is not even asked for permission to enter their country
4. Where Iraq can''t decide what kind of government they have or even when they can take over
5. Where stations are pulled off the air and Al Maliki has to order that body counts be kept secret or lowered to help Bush''s rhetoric
6. where Al Maliki could not pardon those freedom fighters that fought America even though he said he would
7. Where even the vacation time can be weighed and argued by outsiders
8. Where the occupiers paid mercenaries can kill and harm with impunity and Iraq has to agree to that
sovereignty like my d1ckkkk is always hard, and my ballz are made of gold. LMAO (I am a woman)
Posted by mbcsmith
Well, President Harry just lost his war on the war. What is he gonna tell George Soros and MoveOn and MediaMatters. I mean the idiot couldn''t tell the difference between Iran''s suspension of it''s nuke program and it''s cessation. The fact that Iran had a Nuke program to suspend is the issue and of course President Harry missed that point. The Surge Worked and will the Government is getting together from the ground up, was it any different for our Democracy. Gee, on what platform can the Dimrods run on next.
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
Raw Story
Thursday December 6, 2007
A new National Intelligence Estimate released on Monday indicates that 16 US intelligence agencies have concluded with a high level of confidence that Iran has not had an active nuclear weapons program since 2003 and that even if it resumed weapons development, it would be unlikely to obtain a nuclear bomb in less than 5 to 10 years.
The NIE apparently came as a surprise to President Bush, who insisted at a news conference the next day that "I was made aware of the NIE last week. In August, I think it was, John %u2013 Mike McConnell %u2013 came in and said, ''We have some new information.'' He didn''t tell me what the information was. He did tell me it was going to take a while to analyze."
However, the NIE was no surprise to veteran investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, who has been writing about it since November 2006. Hersh told CNN''s Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday that he believes the White House deliberately kept the NIE bottled up for over a year because the vice president was dissatisfied with its conclusions.
We know we can thank the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. We certainly can''t thank the Iraqi soldiers and police or the Iraqi government for a
*** thing!
I know you Bushies have a thing about prematurely declaring Mission Accomplished. I just wish you could agree for once on what the mission is and stick to it.
If it was to overthrow Saddam that mission was accomplished in April of 2003.
If it was to find out if he had WMD that was accomplished by late summer 2003.
If it was to bring Sadaam to justice that was accomplished in December of 2003.
If it was to give Iraq a free election that was accomplished 3 years ago.
If it was to defeat the terrorists who attacked us on Sept. 11 that war is in Afghanistan & Pakastan. The Taliban surge there is definitely working thanks to our pre-occupation with the civil war in Iraq. Don''t let the lull in the fighting fool you, there hasn''t been an armistace so the civil war isn''t over.
If the Mission is to establish a democratic government in Iraq that mission is nowhere near being accomplished. Remember the benchmarks? The Iraqi government doesn''t, and why should they when our government doesn''t care. We''ve promised to stay forever whether they show progress or not, so do you think corruption and sectarian hatred will go away?
Posted by mudrose at 01:04 PM : Dec 06, 2007
Yeah!! The great and powerful poobah Cheney has spoken and Lord knows that paragon of virtue, honesty and decency has never been mistaken or wrong--LMAO
don''t confuse your worship of lord goddette Cheney with the rest of the country''s belief in what he says. We''ve seen his last throes, watch him ignore subpoenas, heard him describe Iraq WMD as "Here, there and everywhere, so beware", seen him involved in outing an agent, watched him dodge testifying under oath about the Iraq war, 9/11 or Enron. saw him hide his emails and notes about anything under "Executive privilege" then seen the same miscreant dodge executive requirements to turn over docs to the appropriate depts.
In other words--your god, not ours, not him, not Bush, not Rove, etc. WE''ve had the peaceful lull before and we''ve seen the aftermath--but unlike the truly faithful--we did not drink the kool aide. You gotta wonder why so many Republican Congressmen are jumping ship and retiring. De Nile ain''t just a river in Egypt ya know. LOL
Yea right!
Is this the bozo who diverts money from US troops to buy arms to send to Iraqi Sunni groups? (They promised not to use the weapons against us.)
Luk 18:25 For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle''s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Next Cheney will be telling the world in the parable of the rich Jesus was talking about Seattle''s world famous Space Needle.
The war on terror should''ve began with the removal of himself.
While you Neoconscum have $hit all over your face, you can always trot out Clinton''s BJ and George Soros, can''t ya? Maybe there are a few morons left with IQ room temperature who still listen to your BS!
Conspiracy monger
(Arlington, VA)%u202612/06/07 12:15pm EST%u2026Officials for U.S. Senator Trent Lott (R MS), who recently submitted his resignation effective year end, announced today that on January 1, 2008 he will become Chairman of the Board and CEO of Dirty Deeds, Inc., a multi-billion dollar U.S. security contractor providing war services in Iraq. While boarding his private Boeing 777, Lott was quizzed about the ethics of the timing, to which he responded, %u201CYeah, kids die in war, but I can%u2019t think about that, I%u2019ve got shareholders calling me.%u201D
Lott then chided President Bush for %u201Cnot being aggressive enough with Tajikistan over its desire to acquire nuclear tipped spears.%u201D Lott added, %u201CUnless you%u2019re speaking in reference to Senator Larry Craig, dirty bombs are not our biggest threat.%u201D Asked to explain his remarks, Lott added %u201CYou know what, I get paid by the body, so all I can say is, yeah, Iraq and Afghanistan aren%u2019t fun, but Tajikistan%u2019s different%u2026these people are totally backwards.%u201D
Another room temperature IQ right wing Republican gone, gone, gone.
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Is that a timetable??????? Look everybody, the VP is playing into the hands of the enemy...now they know when our "mission is accomplished". Bad, bad Mr. VP...you''re endangering American lives with misleading signals!!!
The Iraqi Cabinet has invited the US to stay for a while...but, they lack the authority to speak for Iraq...the Parliament opposes this.
Troops Home Now! The enemy is in Washington!
Sure, this has always been a business plan - Halliburton''s business plan.
And as business plans go, this war has been a stunning success for Halliburton!
But at the cost of 1.9 trillion taxpayers dollars.
4000 DEAD Americans.
The country in hock to the Chinese.
There''re some of us who don''t share your enthusiasm for the war.
If we are having such great success in moving toward independence why are we attempting to negotiate a long-term military presence there?
2009, isn''t that the year after the election? In 2009 the date will become 2013.
Actually VP Cheney misspoke. He meant that the UNITED STATES will be a self- governing democracy WHEN he leaves office.
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