Who Can Really Say?

Dead From The Neck Up

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is on the case. Dick Cheney has changed his view on Iraq.

In an assessment that differs sharply with his view today, Dick Cheney more than a decade ago defended the decision to leave Saddam Hussein in power after the first Gulf War, telling a Seattle audience that capturing Saddam wouldn't be worth additional U.S. casualties or the risk of getting "bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq."

Cheney, who was secretary of defense at the time, made the observations answering audience questions after a speech to the Discovery Institute in August 1992, nearly 18 months after U.S. forces routed the Iraqi army and liberated Kuwait.

President George H.W. Bush was criticized for pulling out before U.S. forces could storm Baghdad, allowing Saddam to remain in power and eventually setting the stage for the invasion of Iraq ordered by his son, President George W. Bush, in March 2003.

The comments Cheney made more than a decade ago in a little-publicized appearance have acquired new relevance as he and Bush run for a second term. A central theme of their campaign has been their unflinching, unchanging approach toward Iraq and the shifting positions offered by Democratic nominee John Kerry.

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Despite his reservations 12 years ago, Cheney was one of this administration's vocal and unrelenting supporters of invading Iraq. The decision was based on Saddam's reported development of nuclear, biological and other weapons of mass destruction that Bush and Cheney said posed a direct and imminent threat to the United States.

When I read stuff like this I want to grab my head like Charlie Brown and just scream "AARRRrrrrrgghh!"

I don't know the details of Cheney's change of mind, but I can guess. Hell, I can even give you the big picture, and do it in only 4 strokes of the keyboard: 9/11.

Dead tree media? I'll sound like someone familiar if I type this, but instead, how about Dead From the Neck Up media?

Posted by Peter at September 29, 2004 08:20 PM