Dick Cheney explains why the US shouldn't invade Iraq in 1994: Quagmire!
By John Amato Sunday Aug 12, 2007 6:01pm 
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I've written about his statements here on C&L before, but the reason I got the video craze going in the blogosphere was because of the power these visuals carry...Cheney explains very rationally why it would be a fool's errand to topple Iraq. He should have listened to his other self, don't you think? The self that wasn't drunk with power.
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baby jesus is first
Um, Dick, what changed your mind?
IMPEACH.
ahhhh yes....the PNAC self fulfilling prophecies....and the stupid american populace sheep who are powerless to do anything about it.
A-S-S-H-O-L-E he's an asshole
I just love how you siteowners always give credit for your stories. Not.
I wonder what changed his mind...$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.....nevermind
Wow! Who is this man and what have they done with Dick Cheney?
All it took was a few shares of Halliburton stock to change his mind, and $200-300 million dollars in his own pocket.
cetylovx @ 7:
Funny.
1994 Dick should tell 2003 Dick what a dick he is! Why weren't the Dems running this as a commercial in 2004? Why didn't Wolf play this tape for Dick when Wolf interviewed him?
he did not realize until after he made these remards
what a large fortune he could steal from the American treasury
at that time. GREED set his black heart on fire.
Oh yeah, I saw this episode on Star Trek. Good Kirk/Bad Kirk. Now when I see Cheney, I won't be able to get that hand-to-had Star Trek battle music out of my head.
Honestly- what changed since 1994? The inevitable answer: 911 changed everything, including this rational assessment. However, I just dont buy it: I dont think 911 changed much of anything, to be honest. There were threats before 911- there are threats after 911. Same deal. Now, I'm sure Cheney will say that after 911, his thinking changed: he couldnt sit idly by and watch a rogue state like Iraq fester and perhaps pose a threat. The answer? Go in and make sure it was no threat- which is precisely what the US did, with the inspectorss, who, contrary to popular perception, were given access to the sites they wanted to inspect. Too bad the media- and the public at large- have allowed Bush, Cheneey and the whole administration to re write history.
The "pre-Halliburton" Dick Cheney actually seemed fairly practical by comparison. Any sane person should ask, "Was it really 9/11, or was it Halliburton and being part of the oil crowd that changed Cheney?"
I think it's safe to say that the profit motive played a huge role. An ex oil services contractor in our executive branch's inner circle can be a dangerous thing.
are you suggesting he flip-flopped.. that he was against an Iraq invasion before he was for it?
I wonder if his medications have changed much since 1994.
Dick. Heh.
Republicans don't flip flop. Ever.
good kirk got the girl.
Impeach the SOB ! ...............So he knew all along in 1994 what may happen if and when they attack IRAQ.
How is it working you for you now dickless. Boy I thought the insanity had maybe peaked, surfing the waves of incredulity has never been better, now this, keep it coming bro, nothing ever seems to happen as a consequence, but the waves are close to epic proportions, I can hardly wait to ride the ultimate wave of todays present history brought to you in living color by a bunch of perfect haired sycophants, let's call that day, Atonement day and the surf will be outrageous..hang loose brothers and sisters.
9/11 changed everything except for the results.
Way to go Deadeye!
I guess I can honestly say he was a Dick back then too.
-GSD
Please excuse the repeat posting with this video but I happen to agree with you about the power of visual imagery and this clip of a statue of Big Dick Cheney being torn down outside of his residence in his hometown of Jackson Hole, Wyoming by his neighbors who are clamoring for his impeachment seems to be a matched set with this AEI "Smoking Gun"/Confession video.
What I find remarkable is that the money shot is not the statue coming down, but the local Sheriff rolling up on the crowd, honking his horn in approval, and driving off.
Drudge actually linked to another video of this event, but it doesn't have this POV with the Sheriff.
Thanks for your indulgence on this.
~Nyc
JohnnyBravo @ 2:
So this just proves how incompetent they really are. They KNEW it would be a quagmire and yet went in with too few troops, no plan, and a bunch of inexperienced sycophants trying to put together an Iraqi stock market rather than focus on water, electricity, security. All those soldiers and Iraqis were murdered due to negligence.
he knew what would happen, then decided to invade because the world with an unstable Mideast is a world where his friends are richer. I can't believe people are still surprised by any of this.
Steve @ 13:
Funny how if dick were presented his thoughts on 94 he will say 9/11 changed everything. Except the results Dickhead predicted if we were to invade Iraq, I mean everything he said is true to this day! his thoughts leading into war and while at war strongly conflicts how he felt in 94...every time i watch a speech or conference from dick and george i swear im looking evil in the eye.
Why couldn't THIS guy be our Vice-President?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
*sigh* oh well.
The Champ is out.
Yeah, but.... Ummm..... Err.... Oh yeah! 9/11 changed everything!! HA! Ya almost had me!!
Wow.
Just wow.
It's spooky, and so terribly tragic.
What a bastard. Here's another video of Darth Dicks depravity
http://my.break.com/media/view.aspx?ContentID=333575
After he is convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity, this clip can be used to argue for the death penalty. It will refute any mitigating arguments he might present arguing that he believed he was doing the right thingand thus deserves a lesser sentence. It will prove that he knew his policies were wrong, yet did them anywise.
Well, it's changed now because Dick destabilized the region, and
did Iran a big favor by taking Hussein down.
I think that Cheney's the Manchurian Vice President...
so it turns out he did know what would happen.
Well that interview was done before he work for Haliburton, and he worked for Bush Sr; so he was just staying on message.
That's the single best clip, ever seen anywhere.
Too bad it wasn't around during the last rigged "election".
Cheney used to be smart. Too bad he enjoyed licking Bush's ass juices so much that he ALSO, like so many other idiots, fell for Bush's lies. Tony Blair is another idiot.
A STUNNING EXPLANATION FOR CHENEY’S ABOUT-FACE ON IRAQ SINCE ‘94
strawberry @ 25:
strawberry, you sound as if the "war" would be perfectly okay with you if only it was fought in a more competent way. It´s no war, in the first place. It´s a criminal invasion/ occupation. Period.
Do you know how this quagmire really looks like?
"In a scientific study published last fall in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, researchers from Johns Hopkins estimated that 650,000 Iraqis had died because of our government’s invasion of their country. The survey that produced that estimate was completed in July, 2006. That was a year ago.
Unfortunately, despite the calls of the Lancet authors for other studies, there has been no systematic effort to update these results.
Just Foreign Policy has attempted to update the Lancet estimate in the best way we know. We have extrapolated from the Lancet estimate, using the trend provided by the tally of Iraqi deaths reported in Western media compiled by Iraq Body Count. Our current estimate is that 974,000 Iraqis have died as a result of the U.S. invasion. The web counter and fuller explanation are here."
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/07/11/2454/
And I´ll give you a few other links just to remind you what the USA, that´s you as well, are doing to innocent Iraqi people and - I fear - will be doing to innocent Iranians in the near future:
Iraq: The Hidden Story:
http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=2179700192640504810&q=the+hidden+...
Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq war:
http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-7371253996117324045&q=Iraq&total...
Iraq For Sale:
http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-6621486727392146155&q=Iraq&total...
I´m so fucking sick of good Amerikkkkans!
This clip should be broadcast throughout the net and any possible television station worth anything. Did 9/11 change anything? Certainly. It gave us a good excuse to do something (but not in Iraq!!!) about terrorists. Broadcast, broadcast, broadcast. Someone get this to the Comedy CEntral people. Oddly, that's one of the few venues that I actually count on to get real news to the broadest swathe of most Americans. Gees.
Paul @ 32:
He´ll never be convicted. No fucking body will be held accountable. Death penalty? My ass. Wake up man, face reality.
He does seem eerily rational doesn't he? I almost trust him.
Now why does that scare me so much?
Hypocrite is such a beautifully poetic word, though often painful.
Wow. What a day today turned out to be.
Wonder if Democratic strategists will us this clip? *crickets*
Will the Dem's use the clip? Hell no - that would take some balls.
he should have listened to his other self--the one that wasn't drunk with power--or just drunk.
Of course he was against an invasion of Iraq in 94, a democratic President was in charge. The republicans are all about warmongering, they want all the credit when it comes to war. Guess this one backfired eh Dick?
Cheney and many others honestly thought that Saddam would crumble under the sanctions or be assassinated. The goal for Iraq since the first Gulf War and all the time since then has been regime change (aka steal Iraqi oil). Even under Clinton they were trying to get rid of Saddam. Since Saddam was far more resilient than they thought possible and the only way to get him gone was to invade, they invaded.
This means that He and Bush new EXACTLY that it would be a fools mission to invade Iraq. So I ask you, if they new as we did that it was a stupid plan to invade and occupy, then what's the reason to invade? Oil? Arms?
Not sure if anyone has posted this, but Cheney said the same thing in 1991, and recently explained his opinion:
Yep...9/11 says it all.
Source for my prev. post:
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/10021.html
jwazzz @ 45:
jwazzz, if you drink, can I buy you a beer?
Why is this just coming out now?!?!? Remember the endless questions that came up a while ago ... "Is this a CIVIL WAR we're dealing with???" He said the same exact thing pre-2000 election to Tim Russert on meet the press, who was prompted to ask it due to his PNAC ties, and he went further than in this video, he actually said the words "Civil War" I've hoped to find that video for the longest... Somebody find it!
MR. RUSSERT: During the 2000 campaign you were on the program when we were talking about the Persian Gulf War and looking back and I asked whether you had any regrets about taking Saddam out at that time. And you said no. And then you added this, and I want to talk about it. Let’s watch:
(Videotape, August 27, 2000):
MR. CHENEY: Conversations I had with leaders in the region afterwards, they all supported the decision that was made not to go to Baghdad. They were concerned that we not get into a position where we shifted, instead of being the leader of an international coalition to roll back Iraqi aggression, to one in which we were an imperialist power willy-nilly moving into capitals in that part of the world taking down governments.
(End videotape)
MR. RUSSERT: “Imperialist power,” “moving willy-nilly,” “taking down governments.” Is that how we’re going to be perceived this time?
LOOK FOR FULL TAPE OF THIS INTERVIEW
If you look closely you can see 6-6-6 on the top of his head.
the right always gets their statements memory holed by the Pravda beltway dinner party set
what a f*cking genius. someone should add that country song behind this clip, the one that goes, "Well I'm proud to be an American, . .. " way to go.
C&L - you aren't paying attention! Stop looping this piece. We know - Dickie flipped. Who are you posting this on behalf of and why? Anyone who has been paying attention knows that Darth Cheney is a hypocrite. What's next - another loop of Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam? Ok out there - who was totally amazed by seeming this for the first time - today?
http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/templateC07.php?CID=55
The Gulf War: A First Assessment
Featuring Richard Cheney, Secretary of Defense
Soref Symposium 1991
The Difficulties Encountered in the Gulf Crisis
=================================
And the next year SecDef Cheney paid Halliburton $5.4 million for a study that concluded the US could save money by shrinking the full time military & hiring contractors to fill those positions during time of war.
This has been a troll free reply zone because their is no way they can spin this video without their heads twisting around as in "The Exorcist"
What is this? A trailer for the movie "Invasion?"
They thought that because they had pluked the American electorate and our Constitution in 2000 and 2004 they could pull the same sh*t the world over.
Sorry Charlie. You only f*cked the United States and its people.
The world still wants you on the gallows.
The bad news: So does America.
OMFG! Wow! Any and everytime the Republican party pulls out the Flip-Flop or "Liar" card, all the 527's or even DNC for that matter need to do is run that clip.
Here is how the ad goes. Can you trust a Republican? .... Cheney Clip. Voice Over "Do yourself and the country a favor vote Democratic"
Paid for by sensible people.
.
He was against the occupation before he was for it.
.
Why wasn't this clip playing every day on prime time in the Fall-Winter (2002) Spring of 2003? Why couldn't the maintstream media have used Cheney 1994 to rebut Cheney 2002-03?
Amazing clip.
[...] How many seconds do you think he’d last? [...]
What changed?
1. Saddam wanted to convert petro-dollars to petro-euros for one thing. This is often overlooked but is actually one of the primary reasons it was decided that Saddam must go.
2. the right-wing thinking changed from thinking we could get Iraq's oil easier by promoting stability in the region to thinking we could more easily take the oil by force. Both ideas turned out to be wrong.
3. The importance of the Caspian Sea oil, which can be best accessed by running a pipeline through Iran to Iraq, rose greatly.The Caspian Sea Oil is now the impetus behind the idea to invade Iran.
4. The idea of war profiteering in the Middle East was too tempting to turn down.
5. The religious right solidified its grip on the GOP, which necessitated war in the Holy Lands in order to promote Armageddon and the End Times.
6. The PNAC was adopted as the GOP's road map.
7. Dick got a chance to re-do Vietnam and try to make it come out the way he wanted it to this time. It's all about revenge for Vietnam in Dick's brain.
8. He started believing the lies he had been selling others to gain power. I get the feeling that he honestly believes his job is to tell lies and then cover them up.
yogi-one @ 69:
9. In 1991 Halliburton was not yet positioned to maximize profit from the invasion and in particular the chaos that would ensue. By 2001 everything was in position - the downsized military, the merger of the Bush family's military supplier Kellog with Halliburton's Brown & Root, the stolen 2000 election, 9/11 ...
This plainly shows that Dick knew better than most what results invading Iraq would bring, and for whatever reason, decided to make that happen.
On a more general level, I think this pretty much confirms what I have suspected of the Republican party: That they're the party of bombing a country to distract us while they funnel our money to their fatcat friends.
Dick and The Idiot might be more competent than we give them credit for.
And I don't think 911 changed anything, because Dick had already signed on to this plan in the Project for the New American Century.
I think my underlying suspicion with Dick is that he's privately acknowledged the impending catastrophes of global warming, oil, and debt, and is trying to redistribute the wealth and hamstring the opposition before the going gets tough.
But, in any case, what Dick does these days, it all seems very intentional...and not good. Not good.
How appropriate that he has a mechanical heart.
DICK CHENEY HAS ALOT TO ANSWER FOR.....
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3008938805735782363&hl=en
damn if dick head knew so much back in the day, why the hell didnt they plan better this time around. could it have been the beat the clock race to invade, could it have been that invading iraq was actually a way to redirect attention away from his haliburton dealings and how they were dominating the news cycles. go back to the month between 9/11 and the afgan war and check the major press archives. it was a daily discussion in the MSM about his haliburton issues. i remember it well, haliburton was replaced in dialy cycles by iraq iraq iraq. one of roves most effective moves is the ability to influence news cycles.
Back then it was a different story, alright! Our troops were well off.
Today they need every dime they can save, so what better way to help our people in uniform than to occupy Iraq? We might have stripped their benefits, and their families are falling apart due to long deployments, but at least their down range pay is tax free.
Life is good!
strawberry @ 25:
No, this proves what many have been saying for years, they planned this. They planned to fail, not by accident, not by incompetence, not even by trying to win and making the wrong decisions. They knew what would happen, made a political calculation ( the war will last into the second term, therefore ensuring another stolen victory) they made economic calculations ( just how much money can we steal from the US and Iraq) and they made loss of life calculations ( who cares how many sand monkeys die and screw the troops).
This is standing evidence that is irrefutable that they planned on getting America into a catastrophe that would last decades and make them trillions of dollars. Just wait until they reinstate the draft, and all your sons and daughters can die for their oil buddies:)
Erin Burnett @ 74:
That is a fucking joke, right?
Took everybody a while to find this, huh?
Probably could've been useful is, say, 2004...
Why doesn't the Democratic leadership play this as an ad throughout the nation every day?!
The video tape says it all.
The greatest indictment of these criminals is out there...in their own words...spoken by them!
IMPEACH CHENEY!
In 1994 Cheney was merely repeating what his boss, Bush 41 was saying. He was just keeping on message.
Things change however. From 1995-2000 his CEOing of Haliburton gave him an executive look at what the company could do for the US military; the contract services they could provide. As a former Secretary of Defense he also knew intimately that an army at war needs more stuff then an army at peace. This could have been a big motivation for getting involved in PNAC in 97.
Once he was VP it all fell nicely into place. Haliburton received about 7 billion bucks in no-bid contracts and Cheney's stocks and other payments earned him tens of millions of dollars. Maybe the US would win in Iraq, maybe they wouldn't, when you you're a multimillionaire who profits from the war who even cares?
His flip-flopping makes perfect sense to me.
If 9/11 changed everything in his mind between 1994 and 2003, then what about the WTC bombing of 1993? He made this statement AFTER that. There is no consistency in his reasoning.
After Exxon/Halliburton everything changed.
You'll get the same disconnect if you re-read "Rumsfeld's Rules".
Ones like:
Learn to say,"I don't know." If used when appropriate, it will be often.
or,
It is easier to get into something than to get out of it.
thanks DICK.....bwahahahaha
Dick Cheney has made a lot of specific statements in the past with regard to our nation security interests; Bush made him his running mate. John Kerry has echoed many of those same past statments; Bush aired a tv ad that featured a wolf attacking America.
Where was the media on this in 2004?
That was before all the hardware in his chest! He lost something along the way. The NeoCon's statement of purpose was in 1997. Alot of people changed their minds and thought they could take the money and run.
More proof that the mainstream media is useless. This should be shown on the evening news shows and all the cable news channels.
Each of us should send this vid to seven or so people.
Ask the recipients to send the vid to seven others.
The SCLM won't do it - guess it's up to us.
WTF? I don't even know what to say. How did he go from sounding perfectly rational (in that clip) to NOW? WHO is in charge of this clusterfuck if not him?
Rove quits (good thing, but WHY? There has to be some crazy scary reason), Cheney sounds sane, who the fuck is running this show? Are you as frightened as I am?
SiteMonitor
What's going on with the fonts in this post ? Are you testing Verdana ?
The comments are easier on the eyes with this font, but the main post is horrible. It seems that you cannot separate the post/your article/'s font from the comments font - which would be the best: keep as is for your posts, switch to the 'verdana'? in the comments.
DonkeyKong @ 12:
Spock vs. Kirk, with a hot broad and a big guy with big teeth....with spear type weaponry.......(music)....DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA DA......DA DA DA DA DA DA DA (fast) DADADADA....."...THAT TUNE RULES
I need to know how Cheney does it. Anyone else who made these statements in the past would have been ridiculed and discredited.Somehow this guy can say anything and the hard core conservatives think he's God. I'm baffled. Could someone please explain to me what I'm missing.
i'm sure cheney believed the same thing ten years later - and believes the same thing now. only, two administrations later, cheney wanted a reason to control iraqi oil for the next, several decades AND establish permanent military bases in iraq.
the "quagmire" in iraq was planned - these guys (cheney, rumsfeld, wolfowitz) may be flawed and mean-spirited and narrow minded, but they're not dumb. the more instability in iraq, lebanon, iran, syria, etc, the better for the "interests" of the neocons and/or oil men who are running this country into the ground.
whenever someone says iraq is a "disaster" or a "quagmire", please tell yourself or them that it's really a success for the people who chose to invade and occupy the place. two terms in office, stocks are up, bases are being established, defense contracts are flying around and getting fatter every year.... a true, american success story for those sorry sacks.
Dick would make the argument that things changed after 9/11.
It's very disturbing, but that statement alone would be sufficient most likely.
That makes me physically ill.
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