PapaDick and BabyDick Try to Sustain the Terror Industry
PapaDick and BabyDick Cheney are at it again. They’ve got a piece in the Weekly Standard trying to renew the magic power of terrorterrorterror.
The intelligence claims they make are so batshit crazy they’re even being debunked in the WSJ (by a 9/11 Commission staffer).
But as with the other PapaDick/BabyDick interventions, I’m interested in certain of their detailed plans, which they hide after all their batshit intelligence lies.
The goal here, first of all, is to “get back on offense in the war on terror.”
As we work to defeat ISIS in Iraq and prevent the growth of a terrorist state in the heart of the Middle East, we must also move globally to get back on offense in the war on terror. This means, first, recognizing and admitting the size and scope of the threat we face. Al Qaeda is not “diminished,” nor is “the tide of war receding.” We remain at war, and law enforcement mechanisms will not keep us safe.
Part of that requires spending more than we already do on defense — which hints at one of the clients they’re working for here.
Second, we need to reverse the dramatic decline in defense spending we’ve seen in the last six years. A nation at war cannot hope to prevail if only 4 of its 42 Army brigades are combat ready. We need to make restoration of our military and a reversal of the disastrous defense budget cuts one of our top priorities.
We must occupy Afghanistan even if they don’t want us.
Third, we need to halt the drawdown of our troops in Afghanistan. The tragedy, terror, and chaos in Iraq will be repeated in Afghanistan if we abandon the fight there. Pulling out all U.S. troops without regard to conditions on the ground or the recommendations of our commanders will ensure a victory for America’s enemies.
As with PapaDick and BabyDick’s earlier recent eruptions, they’re serving our “friends and allies in the Middle East,” not necessary the American people.
Fourth, we need to reassure our friends and allies in the Middle East that America will not abandon them. We need to demonstrate through increased intelligence cooperation, military assistance, training, joint exercises, and economic support that we know they are on the front lines of the war on terror.
This apparently includes the military coup government in Egypt, and serving them requires even more arms.
We should immediately provide the Apache helicopters and other military support the government of Egypt needs to fight the al Qaeda insurgency in the Sinai.
And we must ignore all precedent on nukes just for Iran, because it threatens nuclear armed Israel.
Fifth, we should be clear that we recognize a nuclear-armed Iran is an existential threat to Israel and to other nations in the region, as well. We should refuse to accept any “deal” with the Iranians that allows them to continue to spin centrifuges and enrich uranium. In the cauldron of the Middle East today, accepting a false deal—as the Obama administration seems inclined to do—will only ensure Iran attains a nuclear weapon and spark a nuclear arms race across the region. The Iranians should know without a doubt that we will not allow that to happen, and that we will take military action if necessary to stop it.
We must renew our imperial push, even while screaming terrorterrorterror, because our puppet masters in the Middle East require it.
That, and more Apache helicopters.
Given that O proposed that we invade Syria in part because the Saudi’s would pay for it, thus making us mercs, I would say that this statement is far more accurate than most realize.
I really do find “Look forward, not backward” to be increasingly untenable when Dick Cheney keeps trying to stand in front of us again. Can’t we just arrest and prosecute his ass and be done with it?
To paraphrase Grover Norquist, I’d prefer to drown both of them in a bathtub and watch them circle the drain.
I’m wondering how much of the stuff PNAC put out before 9/11 was from his spawn.
Here is a quote from Neocon and Fox news commentator:
Krauthammer last September:
This is a clearly a way to get Obama off the hook politically. The chances of these weapons being eliminated from Syria are less than of the Chicago Cubs winning the World Series this year, and they are now mathematically eliminated.
Comment: Weapons are gone. Lesson learned: Obama, McCain, Cheney, and pundits along with Fox News, etc do not know what the hell will happen in Iraq, Iran, Syria, or Afghanistan. It is a religious war of the worst kind.
A dice roll.
Dick Cheney and Liz are dicks.
I prefer the power of terroir.
See “Sonoma, et al.”
*snerk*
PeterR, I have a nice single vineyard Pinot from Bell-Vigna that exhibits Terroir very well.
As to the dicks, they are violently insane and that is terrifying
Drop me a line if you are ever in Sebastopol ( Google will find me).
Tom Stone! Used to running across you over at Calculated Risk. Hope all is well up there….
Let’s see now, compared to the mortal threats that Americans face from heart disease, cancer, auto accidents, homicides,….bath-tub slips and lightning strikes, terrorism ranks where? Dead last, actually.
Saudi Arabia is indeed the front lines of the terror war. Let’s release those 28 pages redacted from the 9/11 commission report.
dick cheney is the guy who inspired the phrase “bat shit crazy”.
Dick Cheney’s observations and recommendations reminded me of some earlier recommendations made by generals and politicians during the Vietnam War. If I recall correctly, they advocated, among other things invading the “sanctuary” of Cambodia, nuking or invading North Vietnam, and terrorizing South Vietnamese hamlets protecting Vietcong sympathizers in their midst. We ended up bombing South Vietnam with agent orange, destroying countless villages, and ousting Prince Sihanouk in Cambodia (with disastrous consequences for the people of that country). But none of these actions worked, and America lost the war.
Of course, Vice President Cheney missed all of that because he never served in that war, and his recommendations reveal no indication that he learned anything from that war. You are not going to defeat a resurgent Islam with bombs and more troops. President Johnson and Secretary McNamara tried that route in Vietnam and it didn’t work. America is at war not only with bands of terrorists but with people espousing long-cherished and deeply held beliefs. The grievances these people have against the West are deep-seated and span several centuries. All military action accomplishes is to validate their hatred for America, its allies, and its satraps.
Finally, the last thing we need to do is get too cozy with the autocratic regimes in the Gulf. These regimes are ticking time bombs that could explode at any time. Some people have made unfavorable comparisons between the Saudi monarchy and the Romanov Dynasty in Russia, and they may be right.
the fact that Cheney has not gone away isn’t a coincidence.
the fact that the building of the pipeline from Turkmenistan via Afghanistan is on schedule is not a coincidence.
neither are the lack of prosecutions and the precipitous escalations of drone bombings by the Obama administration coincidences.
the Cheneys are not going away because we are living in the Age of Cheney.
every policy inaugurated during the Cheney-Bush administration has expanded.
the goals set out by the Cheney Energy Task force in 2001 are still on target.
the chaos in Iraq, the chaos in Afghanistan and the chaos in the Ukraine are all part of the new world order.
their ideology is well known to all so no one should be surprised as it unfolds.
The oldest saw in the world is “those who forget history are doomed to repeat it”.
Yet Obama ratified “look forward, not back” and to try to sell that, he tried to couch it as being premised upon “learning” from the past but not dwelling on it.
As shortsighted as Obama’s premise is, it is nonetheless plainly dependent upon not allowing the people whose mistakes we supposedly have “learned” from to use the absence of prosecution as a platform for insisting — today and for “forward” — that they were right and demand to be respected for what they did before. Heeeere’s Dicky!
Cheney wants to claim his actions were legitimate, let’s test that theory. Take away his erstwhile immunity and let’s find out how proud he is. Aggressive war predicated upon falsities, torture in derogation of international and US law, it’s a long and embarrassing list — and while he’s allowed to run around bragging about it, the list is made more of an embarrassment to the US than it is to him. That really sucks.
And on the semantic front, as much as I agree with the sentiment of OrionATL’s attribution of the term “bat shit crazy” to a characterization of Cheney’s actions, I think that calling that “inspired” is an insult to the concept of inspiration. Cheney’s actions “inspired” the moniker in the same way a virus “inspires” vomiting. Inspiration is supposed to be a positive thing — calling Cheney “bat shit crazy” may be a gut reaction and wholly justified, but it ain’t because of “inspiration” provided by that man.