Dick Cheney: What is the Price of Failure?
As we approach the 10th anniversary of 9/11 (September 11, 2001), it seems motivations for remembrance have moved away from reverence to earnings potential or media viewership. From Dick Cheney’s book to the National Geographic Channel’s interview with George W. Bush. The National Geographic Channel’s interview with the man who could have asked for heightened awareness of airport security three weeks prior to 9/11, is bad enough. The missing order from Bush could have led to the observation of the protruding box cutter from the rear pocket of one hijacking crew member. Further more, that may have led to security alert calls to other airports across the nation. Well, that story will never unfold as it is hindsight and not worth much at this point; unless it is left out of a book.
The Cheney book (and release) is another ‘whole ballgame’.
Dick Cheney is exhibiting a high degree of callousness in his ‘roll-up’ to his book release date. He is all over conservative airwaves and frequenting the Sunday Morning News shows like a darting prairie dog. During certain interviews Cheney has restated his deep belief in torture while showing there are circumstances where he feels it should be continued. His latest digs have been aimed at both Colin Powell(65th US Secretary of State) and Rice (66th US Secretary of State).
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According to the Atlantic, Cheney describes Rice as “tearfully admitting she had been wrong to urge Bush to apologize for wrongly alleging that Iraq had tried to obtain yellowcake uranium in Niger”. Yesterday, Colin Powell said that it was inappropriate to discuss Rice’s alleged tears.
Powell complained to Bob Schieffer, host of CBS’s ,“Face the Nation”, that in the book Cheney takes credit for Powell’s resignation as secretary of state and suggests that Powell wasn’t supportive of the President’s positions.
“Well, who went to the United Nations and, regrettably, with a lot of false information?” Powell said, referring to his 2003 visit to the U.N. Security Council in which famously said there was “no doubt” that Saddam Hussein was working to build nuclear weapons. “It was me. That wasn’t Mr. Cheney.”
Powell also blasted Cheney for his account of the Valerie Plame affair. In which covert CIA operative Plame’s name was leaked to the media after her husband, Joe Wilson, publicly questioned the rationale for going to war with Iraq.
Cheney, “tries to lay it all off on Mr. Rich Armitage and the State Department and me,” Powell said.
I have previously commented that Dick Cheney granted interviews to supportive news media to work towards salvaging the Bush Administration legacy. Again, it seems my thoughts were laced with underestimation of the depths to which Cheney will stoop. The timing of his book and associated interviews are clear efforts at book sales. Some will argue, “Well that is in fact a continuing effort to salvage a legacy.” I will retort, “Possibly, but current timing and “salacious slogans” indicate a more sinister motivation.” Cheney seems to be driven towards the very greed that could have contributed to ‘no bid’ contracts for Halliburton as the Bush Administration waged war in the Middle East. Prior to joining the Bush Administration, Cheney was CEO of Halliburton and I am certain had a financial interest in the corporation’s market successes. While Cheney disavowed personal financial interest in Halliburton in 2003, there is evidence that he benefited from exponential financial gain based on Halliburton’s market performance from 2004 to 2005.
The website, The Raw Story, published a revealing look at Cheney’s financial rewards from his affiliation with Halliburton and the corporation’s ‘no-bid’ war contracts. If you did not click the Raw Story link, I strongly advise going back and taking a look. If you are still not inclined to do so, let me ask, “have you ever seen a chart that illustrates a stock-option’s value increase to the level of 3,821 per cent in one year?” If you have not seen such a chart, it is posted on the linked page.
As you consider the data from The Raw Story Chart, take a look at the following charts from Halliburton Watch.
Horrible set of charts; don’t you agree?
Air Force General, Chuck Horner, publicly spoke-out about the Federal Government’s non-use of the Army Logistic Command for procurement and logistic in support of the Middle East Wars. The command was the largest and most effective logistics command in the world and it was structured for close support of warring forces. General Horner did not name Halliburton, but he spoke about the use of civilian logistics vs that of the armed forces. Civilian logistics meaning, in that case, Halliburton.
Dick Cheney’s brazen comments about the use of water-boarding should be silenced by a reversal of the Obama Administration’s decision not to pursue investigation of U.S. violations of International Law regarding torture.
Colin Powell mentions in his interview with Bob Schieffer, that Cheney was intimately involved in the ‘outing’ of Valerie Plame. The ‘outing’ of an intelligence operative by a member of the U.S. government Executive Branch was an unbelievable low in U.S. History.
I am certainly not postulating that Cheney had personal financial gain as an impetus in perpetrating the wars in the Middle East. I am suggesting, from a factual perspective, that he certainly benefited financially from the wars. There is a difference and my point is highlighted as I consider the ‘no-bud’ contracts for Halliburton. After I post one more piece of information relative to perpetrating the Middle East Wars, I will provide a comment about Cheney and his pending book release.
60 Minutes: Kill Bin laden Segment (Dalton Fury…assumed name) 13 minutes (worth ever second)
Dick Cheney is about to release a book and he is setting the stage for release with personal marketing appearances. His appearances include references to his book, which are focused on members of the Bush Administration in which he served (or guided, we will never know). We have heard about his comments on Powell and Rice. I will not read the book but I am curious to see if he focuses on others as well.
Cheney appears to be singularly focused on publishing for profit vs. my previous thoughts about his interest in legacy repair, maintenance and archiving. Despite books from Administration officials and insiders who tell vastly different stories of the Bush White House, Cheney presses on with his sanitized version of the Bush Years. I offer these books for another perspective on the Bush Years, his chargers to war, and his (and Cheney’s) indifference on matters that could have shaped a completely different experience in the Middle East.
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Book Title |
Author |
Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror |
Richard A. Clark, Former Administration Aid |
The 9/11 Commission Report: Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (Authorized Edition) |
National Commission on Terrorist Attacks |
The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill |
Ron Suskind, Former White House Insider
|
What Happened |
Scott McClellan, Former White House Spokesperson |
For those who will stand in-line to purchase a copy of the Cheney book, do so with a few mental notes:
Cheney stands to add to his enormous wealth via the book sell.
He will offer vastly different perspectives on the very issues that, collectively, all four authors above write about in their books.
Did he mention Dalton Fury’s (Delta Force) account of a White House that effectively released Bin Laden for Tora Bora? If he has included information about Tora Bora in the book; did he explain about the non-order to proceed in the capture or killing of Bin Laden? If he did not mention Tora Bora and the Delta force ‘fumble’, pull this article up on your PC and look at the three charts that depict profits and stock price increases for Halliburton, and the third chart which shows parallel numbers of deaths for our armed forces (our relatives and loved ones).
You should not be surprised if Cheney completely avoids issues such as Halliburton’s ‘favor no-contract status’ during the three Middle Eastern Wars.
If Valerie Plame is mentioned Cheney will have exercised far more courage than I expected because he will be forced to address false intelligence that led to a charge to find WMD. He does not want to go there!
If you find verbiage in the books that negatively reflects on Collin Powell (and we know it’s in the book), think about the gallant and courageous devotion to the U.S. Army (thus the nation) from Powell. Then, I ask that you think of Cheney’s military service; you will not have to think for very long, there was only five draft deferments during the Vietnam War.
After he takes a really cheap and sexist shot at Condi Rice, please share with me how he stages it and how he closes that chapter in the book. In other words, what was the point of hanging-over-a-cliff the only female member of the inner Cabinet?
Oh, let’s not overlook one last question for your reading:
Did Cheney mention the eventual killing of Bin Laden by a President Obama (time oriented strategies and ordered execution), Navy Seals and Delta Force Team?
If you do not get answers to any of my suggested questions (whether lies or not) and if Cheney does not address any of the aforementioned issues, you should experience major cognitive dissonance (or if your prefer post-purchase remorse) about your book purchase.
You might ask yourself, “What price did I pay for this book and what price is the nation paying for the Bush/Cheney’s failures?”
Edited By: Alexis Atherton
4:56 am
He was the real life model for the Penguin character in the Batman series. Google it
9:20 pm
What is wrong with his face?
1:03 pm
Well, Cheney’s had about 15 heart attacks and will be dead in a year or two. Let the nasty old geezer dwell in LaLa land until he dies. He’s been there most of his life anyway.