The Cheney Exit Interview

On "Face The Nation," Vice President Talks About Iraq, Executive Powers, And Why Obama Needs To Keep Gitmo

(CBS)  Vice President Dick Cheney is confident that not only have the Bush administration's controversial surveillance and detention policies proved successful in fending off another terrorist attack in the United States, but that, if he had the chance, he would do it all over again.

Likewise, he said Iraqis were better off because of regime change spurred by the U.S. invasion, and that he would advise President-elect Barack Obama to maintain the Administration's surveillance program and keep open the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Appearing on CBS' Face The Nation, the vice president talked at length with host Bob Schieffer about the record of the administration, including its controversial torture program, national security, Saturday's incursion by Israeli ground forces into the Gaza Strip, and the United States' military intervention in Iraq.

Schieffer started the interview with the now-classic question asked of departing administrations: "Are we better off now than we were eight years ago?"

"I think we've done some very good things over the course of the last eight years," Cheney said. "Defending the country against further terrorist attacks like 9/11, I think, is a major accomplishment, for example. I think we made progress on education with No Child Left Behind and prescription drug benefits for seniors, and so forth. I can point to tax policies, a series of policies and actions that were put in place that were significant progress.

"There's no question that the new administration and President Obama are going to have their hands full with a new set of problems, if you will, centered especially upon the economy, upon the difficulties that have developed in the financial markets over the last six months."

He said that just as each administration faces a unique challenge - with his, it was 9/11 and its aftermath - "the Obama administration certainly has theirs."

Regime Change And The U.S. Invasion Of Iraq

While avoiding a general answer to "Are we better off?" Cheney did not hesitate to proclaim Iraqis better off because of the regime change initiated by the American invasion.

"I think Iraq is much better off than it was before we went in in '03 and got rid of Saddam Hussein," he said. "I think we are close to achieving most of our objectives. We've seen a significant reduction in the overall level of violence; it's lower now than virtually anytime since we've been there in the spring of '03. We've seen the elimination of one of the world's worst regimes. We've seen the Iraqis write a constitution and hold three national elections. We've now entered into a strategic framework agreement with the Iraqis that calls for ultimately the U.S. completion of the assignment and withdrawal of our forces from Iraq.

"All of those things I think by anybody's standard would be evidence of significant success. And I think we're very close to achieving what it is we set out to do five years ago when we first went into Iraq.

Cheney said that Saddam Hussein, in standing up to the looming threat of an American-led invasion in 2003, "clearly was into self-deception in a major way. I think he totally underestimated George Bush and what we were prepared to do. He tried to sort of bluff his way through, I guess, would be the best way to describe it, and we called his bluff.

"This is a guy who had started two wars," Cheney said of Saddam, "who had killed hundreds of thousands of people, including many of his own, with weapons of mass destruction. It was one of the most despicable regimes of the 20th century. And he thought he could get away with continuing that. And I think he assumed that the U.S. would never go in. And he was wrong."

When Schieffer asked if the original plans for invasion and occupation were flawed, and if some of the bloody fallout that followed could have been avoided if the U.S. had deployed a larger number of troops, Cheney said he had miscalculated both the damage done to Iraqis by Saddam's brutal past and also what he characterized as an inability or unwillingness on the part of Iraqis to take charge themselves, in the vacuum that existed once Saddam was overthrown.

"We could debate that forever, and we may well," he said. "I think that the original campaign was masterfully done, in terms of the small, fast-moving force, as you say, that achieved our initial objectives of taking down the regime and capturing Baghdad. It was a masterful performance.

"I think the thing that we underestimated, at least I underestimated, was the damage that had been done to the Iraqi population by all those years of Saddam's rule, so that there weren't any Iraqis early on who were willing to stand up and take responsibility for their own affairs. Anybody who had had that kind of get-up-and-go in earlier years had had their head chopped off.

"And I think we underestimated the damage that had been done during those years of Saddam's rule, as well as what happened in '91, you may remember, when they rose up after the Gulf War and Saddam, you know, very brutally and very aggressively put down those uprisings around the country. So I would chalk that up to miscalculation."

Cheney said because of the power vacuum, he did not think a larger invasion force - even 400,000 to 500,000 troops - would have achieved the post-invasion objectives. Yet he said that the increase in U.S. troops, the so-called surge, coupled with a counterinsurgency strategy was what "got us across the goal line."

Schieffer asked if the advances made since a larger ground force was deployed didn’t actually undermine Cheney's argument that more troops from the start wouldn’t have prevented problems.

"Well, the number of troops we put in weren't that much more than we'd had there before," he said. "We added five brigades. This is, what, maybe 30,000 men. And it was up close to where we'd been at the time of the elections, when we had forces there to monitor the elections and to provide security for the Iraqis to hold elections.

"We never went over 200,000 troops. We were always significantly below that. And we still succeeded."

"How do you think we got it so wrong?" Schieffer asked. "I mean, we thought he had weapons of mass destruction and he didn't; we thought we would be greeted with open arms and we weren't. What happened?"

"Well, I don't look at it as we got it so wrong, Bob."

"We got a big part of it wrong," Schieffer said. "There weren't any weapons of mass destruction."

"Correct. The original intelligence was wrong, no question about it. But there were parts of it that were right. It wasn't 100 percent wrong. It was correct in saying he had the technology. It was correct in saying he still had the people who knew how to build weapons of mass destruction. I think it was also correct in the assessment that once sanctions came off, he would go back to doing what he had been doing before.

"Where it was wrong was [where it] said he had stockpiles, and he clearly didn't. So the intelligence was flawed. But you never have perfect intelligence in this business. You have got to deal with the best you can in terms of making your decisions."

"Do you think that perhaps you'd looked at the intelligence and saw what you wanted to see rather than make a real logical analysis of what you saw?" Schieffer asked.

"It wasn't a matter just of us looking and seeing what we wanted to see. Everybody believed that intelligence. Saddam Hussein had peddled that notion to his senior officers and officials. They all believed he had weapons of mass destruction. The intelligence services of other countries, the Clinton administration that had been there for eight years before we had, had exactly the same conclusion that we had. And we had numerous reports afterwards with all the studies that were done - the Robb-Silberman commission, the Senate Intelligence Committee - that said that there was no manipulation of the data, no pressure brought to bear on the analysis. This is what they saw, and they got part of it wrong."


The Gaza Conflict

Cheney told Schieffer that the Israeli government did not seek approval or clearance from the U.S. before launching its ground assault. "They have said, now, for a period of months - they told me on my last trip over there - that they didn't want to have to act, where Gaza was concerned - they had gotten out of there three years ago - but if the rocketing didn't stop, they felt they had no choice but to take action.”

[hollytoledo1]

Good riddance, Satan.

[dburfears]

Cheney thinks that anything the President does is legal so long as he can get away with it.

In other words, it may be wrong, it may be unconstitutional, it may be illegal. However, if the Congress does not have the political will to remove the President, then the President has no obligation to follow the law, follow the Constitution, or do what is right.

So if you murder someone, but you are never prosecuted, then it is OK with Cheney because (in his twisted world) it is "legal".

Cheney is not a man who understands representative government, right and wrong, or the concept of integrity. He is a BLIGHT on American history, and someone who aspiring American leaders should look to as a perfect example of power gone terribly wrong.

[harp1963]

What a disgrace to America.

[dburfears]

Cheney is one of the greatest traitors to the principles of America we have seen in decades. He sees no limit to Presidential power, and thinks the Constitution is whatever he chooses to interpret it as. If this monster had his way, we would be a dictatorship, and the "Party" (GOP) would rule with an iron fist. Liberty? Don''t make Cheney laugh. "Liberty is for puzzys" is his motto.

This man is a traitor, should be tried, and should be shot.

[lemonskink]

What else can this lying piece of *** say? 16 days left until Bush/Cheney escape American justicek that should be meted out. Unfathomable.

http://www.ronnierayjenkins.com/topics/education/The_Ballad_of_Caribou_Barbie/

[nobdysfool]

"There''s no question that the new administration and President Obama are going to have their hands full with a new set of problems"

Yes, Darth Cheney. We have you & the rest of the incompetent Bushey administration to thank for our country in crisis. Job very well done!

[endrepubs]

YOU AND YOUR PRIVATE SECURITY ENTOURAGE CAN GO HIDE IN AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION PERMANENTLY NOW. GO HIDE IN YOUR BUNKER JUST LIKE HITLER DID .

[hsinco-2009]

I didn''t read the article or see the tv show.

He didn''t say to keep Gitmo because he expects to be a prisoner there, by chance, did he?

Maybe if he was waterboraded there he''d sing a different tune.

[hermitdave]

So the chief puppet master is out there lying his *** off again. Sure this band of criminals has been able to prevent another attack on America. It is easy when you a closely involved with the people who did the necessary new Pearl Harbor to allow for the two illegal crusades against the innocent people of two countries. Of course America now has total control of the Afghan drug cartel, and yes the western oil companies that Saddam threw out 39 years ago will thank you and your puppet George in ways the average American will never know.

[docjim6]

Cheney said --the Obama admin. will inherit the Gaza-Israel problem--similar to our inheriting the aftermath of 9-11-01 ! !
Did the cunning criminal spinner forget that that their admin. took office 1-20-01--;& that king George didn''t look too surprised @ Booker elem. school in Florida the morning of 9-11-01 !

[endrepubs]

*** CHENEY - A TRUE AMERICAN COWARD WHO SACRIFICES COUNTLESS LIVES FOR HIS OWN PERSONAL GAIN!!!!!
A COWARD WHO HIDES AND WILL GO NOWHERE NEAR HARMS WAY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COWARDLY SERVICE TO OUR NATION. MAY YOU FIND A SPIDER HOLE OF YOUR OWN.

[trillion1]

These @#%^**$# will spend their lives in gilded cages. Not welcome in most of America and unable to leave because of war crime charges waiting outside our borders. Ask rummy what it feels like.

[gce65]

The exit interview 8 years overdue!

Hang this criminal!

[stephenroger]

Being from Australia I am not sure what the duties of a Vice President of the USA are? After reading the article it appears that his responsibilities are security and war. They were the only themes that were questioned. I would have thought that day to day issues such as the USA economy, education, health care, social integration and justice would have been more important to evaluate. Therefore can I be so bold as to say your outgoing Vice President is so rich he doesn''t care about the mundane policies of civil government?
Sorry if I offend anyone.
Your loyal ally down under

[lili5044]

Exit interview can be summed up with one word. LOSER! How long do pace makers last anyway? Just curious..(:

[endrepubs]

BUSH, CHENEY AND ASSOCIATES ARE THE NEW ''BOYS FROM BRAZIL''

[hermitdave]

WELL STEP you are correct Cheney doesn''t worry about anything as mundane as money. He is like George the crusaders daddy. He has no idea what a super market check out counter is. He is more comfortable on the deck of some Sultans YACHT. Remember those billion dollar oil companies and military contractors are going to OWE Uncle Richard and his little nephew Georgie BIG TIME.

[lopezf11]

BUSH, CHENEY AND ASSOCIATES ARE THE NEW ''''BOYS FROM BRAZIL''''


Posted by ENDREPUBS

They''re gay? Do you buy their music?

[nordeck52]

Why is this guy still out there making interviews? Haven''t we heard enough from this windbag the last eight years? Get outta here.

[lopezf11]

WELL STEP you are correct Cheney doesn''''t worry about anything as mundane as money. He is like George the crusaders daddy. He has no idea what a super market check out counter is. He is more comfortable on the deck of some Sultans YACHT. Remember those billion dollar oil companies and military contractors are going to OWE Uncle Richard and his little nephew Georgie BIG TIME.

Posted by hermitdave

Yes, but can you make your payments on time?

[lopezf11]

Why is this guy still out there making interviews? Haven''''t we heard enough from this windbag the last eight years? Get outta here.

Posted by nordeck52

I think you meand "why is he still participating in interviews? He "makes" you shiiite your panties.

[lopezf11]

Exit interview can be summed up with one word. LOSER! How long do pace makers last anyway? Just curious..(:


Posted by lili5044

Everyreadies keep going and going.

[amazedd]

Bye, Hephaestion. And thanx!

[rickstas]

--"This is a guy who had started two wars," [Cheney said of Saddam] "who had killed hundreds of thousands of people, including many of his own, with weapons of mass destruction. It was one of the most despicable regimes of the 20th century. And he thought he could get away with continuing that"--

Sounds like a self-evaluation.

[lopezf11]

--"This is a guy who had started two wars," [Cheney said of Saddam] "who had killed hundreds of thousands of people, including many of his own, with weapons of mass destruction. It was one of the most despicable regimes of the 20th century. And he thought he could get away with continuing that"--

Sounds like a self-evaluation.

Posted by rickstas

Do you mean: autobiography? It''s really a word.

[lopezf11]

The job of Vice-President is to represent the President in Congress.
He is president of the Senate.
He casts a vote when the vote is a tie.
Cheney found a way to subvert the CIA and issue false intelligence reports for the congress.

Posted by MrNrgmizer

And Biden, on his best day, woun''t be clever enough to figure out how.

[rickstas]

Two more weeks and they''ll be one less d-i-c-k around to screw everything up.

[lopezf11]

Two more weeks and they''''ll be one less d-i-c-k around to screw everything up.

Posted by rickstas

Are you moving. . .to Canada?

[endrepubs]

LOPEZF11:
ARE YOU NOT TAKING YOUR MEDS TODAY? NOTHING YOU SAY MAKES SENSE.

[FHMullane]

These two...particularly Chaney made sure they will have it made financially!!!! Good Ridance!!

[lopezf11]

LOPEZF11:
ARE YOU NOT TAKING YOUR MEDS TODAY? NOTHING YOU SAY MAKES SENSE.

Posted by ENDREPUBS

Thank you. I''d hate to be the only one. . .that made sense I mean.

[lopezf11]

These two...particularly Chaney made sure they will have it made financially!!!! Good Ridance!!


Posted by fhmullane

What a great country. How about you, got any money?

[ljc2009]

Rove - oveR

[solarrays247-2009]

Exit interview can be summed up with one word. LOSER! How long do pace makers last anyway? Just curious..(:
Posted by lili5044

Everyreadies keep going and going.
Posted by lopezf11 at 04:30 PM : Jan 04, 2009

lopezf11 is either...one of the following:

1) related to D.i.c.k.head

2) an employee of same

3) a paid shrill for said creep

4) or just having a bad day, and trying to irritate everyone else

;0)

[lopezf11]

Rove - oveR


Posted by LJC2009

Are you the famous Mr. Palindrome?

[mainedoggie]

Cheney, Nazi war criminal. This thug makes me want to puke.

Good riddance *********.

[lopezf11]

lopezf11 is either...one of the following:

1) related to D.i.c.k.head

2) an employee of same

3) a paid shrill for said creep

4) or just having a bad day, and trying to irritate everyone else

;0)


Posted by Solarrays247 at

Yes he is.

[lopezf11]

Cheney, Nazi war criminal. This thug makes me want to puke.

Good riddance *********.


Posted by mainedoggie

I think yours might be leaking.

[solarrays247-2009]

lopezf11 is either...one of the following:

1) related to D.i.c.k.head

2) an employee of same

3) a paid shrill for said creep

4) or just having a bad day, and trying to irritate everyone else

;0)


Posted by Solarrays247 at

Yes he is.

Posted by lopezf11 at 04:50 PM : Jan 04, 2009

Thought so....okay....carry on!!

Didn''t watch it, didn''t read it, couldn''t care less...

[lopezf11]

lopezf11 is either...one of the following:

1) related to D.i.c.k.head

2) an employee of same

3) a paid shrill for said creep

4) or just having a bad day, and trying to irritate everyone else

;0)


Posted by Solarrays247 at

Yes he is.

Posted by lopezf11 at 04:50 PM : Jan 04, 2009

Thought so....okay....carry on!!


Posted by Solarrays247

Aye, aye, sir.

[ljc2009]

%u201CAll the President%u2019s (BUSH) Men%u201D - Always room for one more:

1. Michael Battle
2. Michael %u201CBrownie%u201D Brown
3. Marlow W. Cook
4. Larry Craig
5. Tom Delay
6. George Deutsch
7. Michael Elston
8. Kyle %u201CDusty%u201D Foggo
9. Mark Foley
10. Vito Fossella
11. James S. Gilmore
12. J. Steven Griles
13. Alberto Gonzales
14. Francis Harvey
15. Eric Keroack
16. Lewis %u201CScooter%u201D Libby
17. Paul McNulty
18. William Mercer
19. Harvey Pitt
20. Karl Rove
21. Donald Rumsfeld
22. David Safavian
23. Kyle Sampson
24. Randall Tobias
25. Paul Wolfowitz %u201CGOOD RIDDANCE%u201D

[lopezf11]

%u201CAll the President%u2019s (BUSH) Men%u201D - Always room for one more:

1. Michael Battle
2. Michael %u201CBrownie%u201D Brown
3. Marlow W. Cook
4. Larry Craig
5. Tom Delay
6. George Deutsch
7. Michael Elston
8. Kyle %u201CDusty%u201D Foggo
9. Mark Foley
10. Vito Fossella
11. James S. Gilmore
12. J. Steven Griles
13. Alberto Gonzales
14. Francis Harvey
15. Eric Keroack
16. Lewis %u201CScooter%u201D Libby
17. Paul McNulty
18. William Mercer
19. Harvey Pitt
20. Karl Rove
21. Donald Rumsfeld
22. David Safavian
23. Kyle Sampson
24. Randall Tobias
25. Paul Wolfowitz %u201CGOOD RIDDANCE%u201D


Posted by LJC2009

And Barney?

[beth.cornell]

If we had competent men in the Intelligence Administration that knew what they were doing, then Bush 43 wouldn''t have had any problems with the info on Iraq or anywhere else. We would have done things differently. Bush had no recourse in what he did.

[ljc2009]

GOP%u2026you are under ARREST.

You have the right to remain ignorant.

Anything you say, will continue to be used against you in a "voting booth" :)

You have the right to have former "Bush" Atty. Gen. Gonzales present during questioning.

If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you%u2026

On your way OUT of the White House!!!

[rob416]

There is an arrogance about *** Cheney. According to him he can do or say no wrong. In the Face the Nation interview he touts the accomplishments of the Bush Administration, but says little of the failures.
His ideas of accomplishments and the overwhelming majority of the American public are quite different.

Imagine him in the interview saying what his advice is to the incoming President-Elect. The last person Obama needs advice from is *** Cheney. With the Vice president, when someone says up he says down, when someone says right he says left. In the end he tends to be wrong a good part of the time.

[notmudrose1]

hi, i''m *** cheney and i''m patting myself on the back with both hands because bush and I knew 20 terrorists were going to attack America but i told bush to let it happen and then we could take credit for making every american subject to illegal wiretaps, strip searches at airports and loss of constitutional rights.

Aren''t I a great guy?

[endrepubs]

If we had competent men in the Intelligence Administration that knew what they were doing, then Bush 43 wouldn''''t have had any problems with the info on Iraq or anywhere else. We would have done things differently. Bush had no recourse in what he did.

Posted by GLFan620 at 05:03 PM : Jan 04, 2009
To;GLFan620:
NOT TRUE. BUSH WAS TOLD REPEATEDLY TO LET THE INSPECTORS DO THEIR JOB IN IRAQ. HE SIMPLY DID NOT WANT TO LISTEN TO THAT BECAUSE HE HAD HIS EYE ON SADDAM FROM THE DAY HE WALKED INTO THE WHITE HOUSE.

[daffy64]

Isn''''t it ironic that in order for Barack Obama to become a successful president, he will have to become George W. Bush''''s third term?

If Obama does otherwise, he will surely become a complete failure.

How''''s that for "change", Liberals?

--

Uh. Yeah. Right.

[lopezf11]

hi, i''''m *** cheney and i''''m patting myself on the back with both hands because bush and I knew 20 terrorists were going to attack America but i told bush to let it happen and then we could take credit for making every american subject to illegal wiretaps, strip searches at airports and loss of constitutional rights.

Aren''''t I a great guy?

Posted by notmudrose1


notmudrose1, This what smart people call drivel.