View source for Dick Cheney

[[File:Richard Cheney 2005 official portrait.jpg|thumb|Principle is okay up to a certain point, but principle doesn't do any good if you lose.]]

'''[[w:Dick Cheney|Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney]]''' (born [[January 30]], [[1941]]) was the 46th [[w:Vice President of the United States|vice president of the United States]], serving under President [[w:George W. Bush|George W. Bush]]. Previously, he served as [[w:White House Chief of Staff|White House chief of staff]], member of the [[w:U.S. House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] from Wyoming, and [[w:Secretary of Defense|Secretary of Defense]]. In the private sector, he was the chairman and chief executive officer of [[w:Halliburton Energy Services|Halliburton Energy Services]].

== Quotes ==

=== 1970s ===
* Principle is okay up to a certain point, but principle doesn't do any good if you lose.
** [http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1502532,00.html Remarks during the 1976 US Presidential]

=== 1980s ===
* Let us rid ourselves of the fiction that low [[oil]] prices are somehow good for the United States.
** [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E3D91F39F935A35757C0A9629C8B63 Remarks after introducing a legislation to create a new import tax that would have caused the price of oil to soar by billions of dollars per year] October 1986

=== 1990s ===
* I think that the proposition of going to Baghdad is also fallacious. I think if we we're going to remove [[Saddam Hussein]] we would have had to go all the way to Baghdad, we would have to commit a lot of force because I do not believe he would wait in the Presidential Palace for us to arrive. I think we'd have had to hunt him down. And once we'd done that and we'd gotten rid of Saddam Hussein and his [[government]], then we'd have had to put another government in its place. What kind of government? Should it be a [[Sunni-Shia relations|Sunni]] government or [[w:Shia_Islam|Shi'i]] government or a [[w:Kurds|Kurdish]] government or [[w:Ba'athism|Ba'athist]] regime? Or maybe we want to bring in some of the [[Islamic fundamentalism|Islamic fundamentalists]]? How long would we have had to stay in Baghdad to keep that government in place? What would happen to the government once [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. forces]] withdrew? How many casualties should the United States accept in that effort to try to create clarity and stability in a situation that is inherently unstable? I think it is vitally important for a [[President of the United States|President]] to know when to use military force. I think it is also very important for him to know when not to commit U.S. military force. And it's my view that [[George H.W. Bush|the President]] got it right both times, that it would have been a mistake for us to get bogged down in the quagmire inside [[Iraq]].
** At the [[w:Washington Institute|Washington Institute]]'s Soref Symposium, [[w:April 29|April 29]], [[w:1991|1991]] [http://web.archive.org/web/20041130090045/http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/pubs/soref/cheney.htm]

* And the question in my mind is how many additional American casualties is Saddam worth? And the answer is not very damned many. So I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from [[Kuwait]], but also when the president made the decision that we'd achieved our objectives and we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq.... Once we had rounded him up and gotten rid of his government, then the question is what do you put in its place? You know, you then have accepted the responsibility for governing Iraq.
** [[w:August|August]] [[w:1992|1992]], at the [[w:Discovery Institute|Discovery Institute]] in [[w:Seattle|Seattle]] [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/192908_cheney29.html] [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/connelly/192828_joel29.html]

* Because if we had gone to Baghdad we would have been all alone. There wouldn't have been anybody else with us. It would have been a U.S. occupation of Iraq. None of the Arab forces that were willing to fight with us in Kuwait were willing to invade Iraq. Once you got to Iraq and took it over and took down Saddam Hussein's government, then what are you going to put in its place? That's a very volatile part of the world. And if you take down the central government in Iraq, you could easily end up seeing pieces of Iraq fly off. Part of it the [[Syria|Syrians]] would like to have, the west. Part of eastern Iraq the Iranians would like to claim. Fought over for eight years. In the north, you've got the Kurds. And if the Kurds spin loose and join with Kurds in Turkey, then you threaten the territorial integrity of [[Turkey]]. It's a quagmire if you go that far and try to take over Iraq. The other thing is casualties. Everyone was impressed with the fact that we were able to do our job with as few casualties as we had, but for the 146 Americans killed in action and for the families it wasn't a cheap war. And the question for the president in terms of whether or not we went on to Baghdad and took additional casualties in an effort to get Saddam Hussein was, how many additional dead Americans is Saddam worth? And our judgment was not very many, and I think we got it right.
** Cheney, on not pushing on to Baghdad during the first Gulf War; C-SPAN 4-15-94 [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0708/13/sitroom.03.html Interview on CNN]

* The good Lord didn't see fit to put oil and gas only where there are [[Democracy|democratically]] [[Elections|elected]] regimes friendly to the United States. Occasionally we have to operate in places where, all things considered, one would not normally choose to go. But, we go where the business is.
** [http://www.cato.org/speeches/sp-dc062398.htm Speech delivered at the Cato Institute], (June 23, 1998)

* Oil remains fundamentally a government business. While many regions of the world offer great oil opportunities, the [[Middle East]] with two thirds of the world's oil and the lowest cost, is still where the prize ultimately lies, even though companies are anxious for greater access there, progress continues to be slow.
** [http://web.archive.org/web/20000414054656/http://www.petroleum.co.uk/speeches.htm Speech delivered at the London Institute of Petroleum], 1999

===2000s===
*The suggestion that somehow, because this was a close election, we should fundamentally change our beliefs I just think is silly.
**[http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/18/us/43rd-president-vice-president-elect-cheney-says-bush-administration-will-move.html CBS News program ''Face the Nation''] (December 2000)
====2001 ====
* We also have to work, though, sort of the dark side, if you will.
**[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2005/11/07/BL2005110700793.html Interview on NBC] (September 16, 2001)
====2002 ====
* Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has [[Iraq and weapons of mass destruction|weapons of mass destruction]]; there is no doubt that he is amassing them to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us.
**[http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/26/international/middleeast/full-text-in-cheneys-words.html Address] at the Opening Session of the 103rd National Convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (August 26, 2002)
==== 2003 ====
* We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted [[nuclear weapons]].
** Cheney on NBC's Meet the Press, March 16, 2003 [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080244/]

* [In response to "Do you think the American people are prepared for a long, costly, and bloody battle with significant American casualties?"] "Well, I don’t think it’s likely to unfold that way, Tim, because I really do believe that we will be greeted as liberators. I’ve talked with a lot of Iraqis in the last several months myself, had them to the White House....The read we get on the people of Iraq is there is no question but what they want to get rid of Saddam Hussein and they will welcome as liberators the United States when we come to do that."
* My belief is, we will, in fact be greeted as liberators.
** ''Meet The Press with Tim Russert''. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3080244/] (March 16, 2003)

* [In response to "Reconstituted nuclear weapons. You misspoke."] Yeah. I did misspeak. I said repeatedly during the show weapons capability. We never had any evidence that he had acquired a nuclear weapon.
** ''Meet The Press with Tim Russert''. [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3080244/] (Sept. 14, 2003)

* [In response to "We have not been greeted as liberators."] "Well, I think we have by most Iraqis. I think the majority of Iraqis are thankful for the fact that the United States is there, that we came and we took down the Saddam Hussein government. And I think if you go in vast areas of the country, the Shia in the south, which are about 60 percent of the population, 20-plus percent in the north, in the Kurdish areas, and in some of the Sunni areas, you’ll find that, for the most part, a majority of Iraqis support what we did.
** ''Meet The Press with Tim Russert''. [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3080244/] (Sept. 14, 2003)

* If we’re successful in Iraq, if we can stand up a good representative government in Iraq, that secures the region so that it never again becomes a threat to its neighbors or to the United States, so it’s not pursuing weapons of mass destruction, so that it’s not a safe haven for terrorists, now we will have struck a major blow right at the heart of the base, if you will, the geographic base of the [[Islamic terrorism|terrorists]] who have had us under assault now for many years, but most especially on 9/11.
** ''Meet The Press with Tim Russert''. [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3080244/] (September. 14, 2003)

==== 2004 ====
* You know, [[w:Paul_O'Neill|Paul]], [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] proved that deficits don't matter. We won the mid-term elections, this is our due.
** [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml Remarks on Paul O'Neill] (January 9, 2004)

* We haven't really had the time yet to pore through all those records in Baghdad. We'll find ample evidence confirming the link, that is the connection if you will between [[Al-Qaeda|al Qaida]] and the Iraqi intelligence services. They have worked together on a number of occasions.
** Interview with ''Rocky Mountain News'', January 2004 [http://web.archive.org/web/20040213072434/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/politics/article/0,1299,DRMN_35_2565269,00.html]

* America has shown we are serious about removing the threat of weapons of mass destruction."..."We now know that Saddam Hussein had the capacity to produce weapons of mass destruction.... We know he had the necessary infrastructure because we found the labs and the dual-use facilities that could be used for these chemical and biological agents. We know that he was developing the delivery systems — ballistic missiles — that had been prohibited by the [[United Nations]].
** [http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/president/2004-02-16-cheney-new-mexico_x.htm Speech at a Fundraising dinner in New Mexico], (February 16, 2004)

* What we did in Iraq was exactly the right thing to do. If I had it to recommend all over again, I would recommend exactly the same course of action.
** Vice Presidential Debate [[w:October 5|October 5]], [[w:2004|2004]] [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3718956.stm] [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6187803/]

* If the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] policies had been pursued over the last two or three years...we would not have had the kind of job growth we've had.
** Lester Holt interview, MSNBC, [[w:March 2|March 2]], [[w:2004|2004]] [http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/03/20040302-8.html whitehouse.archives.gov]

*With respect to the question of relationships, my general view is that freedom means freedom for everyone. People...ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.
** Remarks on same same-sex marriage [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29862-2004Aug24.html Washington Post] (25 August 2004)

* [[John Kerry|Senator Kerry]] says he sees two Americas. And that makes the whole thing mutual &mdash; America sees two John Kerrys.
** [http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0909-14.htm Acceptance Speech] at the Republican National Convention. - Video and text available. (1 September 2004)

* Because if we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we'll get hit again, that we'll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States, and that we'll fall back into the pre-[[w:September 11, 2001 attacks|9/11]] mind set if you will, that in fact these terrorist attacks are just criminal acts, and that we're not really at war. I think that would be a terrible mistake for us.
** Speaking about the choice Americans would soon make in the presidential election at a [[w:Des Moines, Iowa|Des Moines, Iowa]] campaign appearance on [[w:September 7|September 7]], [[w:2004|2004]] [http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040907-8.html whitehouse.archives.gov].

* [[John Edwards|The senator]] has got his facts wrong. I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11, but there's clearly an established Iraqi track record with terror.
** At the Vice Presidential Debates, October 5, 2004. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/debatereferee/debate_1005.html]

==== 2005 ====
* The important thing here to understand is that the people that are at Guantanamo are bad people. I mean, these are terrorists for the most part.
** Interview talking about the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay on [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,159469,00.html Fox News] (13 June 2005)

* I think we may well have some kind of presence there over a period of time... The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they're in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.
** ''Larry King Live''. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/05/30/cheney.iraq/ interview] (June 20, 2005)

==== 2006 ====
* I think so. I guess if I look back on it now, I don't think anybody anticipated the level of violence that we've encountered.
** [In response to the question "Do you think that you underestimated the insurgency's strength?"] [http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2006/06/20060619-10.html Gerald R. Ford Journalism Prize Luncheon], June 19, 2006

* What the Democrats are suggesting, basically, about a withdrawal &mdash; you can call it redeployment, whatever you want to call it. Basically, it in effect validates the terrorists' strategy. You've got to remember that the [[Osama bin Laden]]-types, the al Qaeda-types, the [[Abu Musab al-Zarqawi|Zarqawi]]-types that have been active in Iraq are betting that ultimately they can break the United States' will. There's no way they can defeat us militarily. Their whole strategy, if you look at what bin Laden's been saying for 10 years, is they believe they can, in fact, force us to quit, that ultimately we'll get tired of the fight, that we don't have the stomach for a long, tough battle and that we'll pack it in and go home. If we were to do that it would be devastating from the standpoint of the global war on terror. It would affect what happens in [[War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)|Afghanistan]]. It would make it difficult for us to persuade the Iranians to give up their aspirations for nuclear weapons. It would threaten the stability of regimes like [[Pervez Musharraf|Musharraf]] in [[Pakistan]] and the [[House of Saud|Saudis]] in [[Saudi Arabia]]. It is absolutely the worst possible thing we could do at this point. It would be to validate and encourage the terrorists by doing exactly what they want us to do.
** [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/06/22/cheney.access/index.html Interview with John King on CNN] (June 22, 2006)
* Here's what I can tell you about [[Donald Rumsfeld|Don Rumsfeld]]. You're never going to get any credit. And you'll only know how well you're doing if he gives you more work. If that happens, you're doing fine.
** Quoted in [[Bob Woodward]]'s, ''State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III'', Simon & Schuster, 2006

==== 2007 ====
* This is an existential conflict. It is the kind of conflict that's going to drive our policy and our government for the next 20 or 30 or 40 years. We have to prevail and we have to have the stomach for the fight long term.
** On [http://web.archive.org/web/20070114221322/http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/14/US.iraq.ap/index.html Fox News Sunday] responding to the opposition against sending 21,500 more troops to Iraq (January 14, 2007)

* Wolf, you can come up with all kinds of what-ifs; you've got to deal with the reality on the ground. The reality on the ground is, we've made major progress. We've still got a lot of work to do. There's a lot of provinces in Iraq that are relatively quiet. There's more and more authority transferred to the Iraqis all the time.... Bottom line is that we've had enormous successes and we will continue to have enormous successes.
** [http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2007/images/01/24/cheney.transcript.pdf CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer] responding to the question, How worried are you of the Iraqi government turning against the United States? (January 24, 2007)

==== 2009 ====
*If fine speech-making, appeals to reason, or pleas for compassion had the power to move them, the terrorists would long ago have abandoned the field.
** [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/05/21/cheney_obama_keeping_america_safe_96615.html Speech at the American Enterprise Institute] (21 May, 2009)

*[W]atching a coordinated, devastating attack on our country from an underground bunker at the White House can affect how you view your responsibilities. 
**[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124267920788831733.html National Secruity Speech, American  Enterprise Institute] (21 May 2009)

===2010s===

==== 2014 ====
* ''Dick Cheney:'' I'm more concerned with bad guys who got out and released than I am with a few that, in fact, were innocent.<br />''Chuck Todd:'' 25% of the detainees though, 25% turned out to be innocent. They were released.<br />''Dick Cheney:'' Where are you going to draw the line, Chuck? How are—<br />''Chuck Todd:'' Well, I'm asking you.<br />''Dick Cheney:'' —you going to know? ''[Overtalk]''<br />''Chuck Todd:'' Is that too high? You're okay with that margin for error?<br />''Dick Cheney:'' I have no problem as long as we achieve our objective.
** {{citation |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meet-press-transcript-december-14-2014-n268181 |periodical=Meet the Press |publisher=NBC |date=2014-12-14 }}, quoted in {{cite news | title = Cheney: 'No problem' with detaining innocents | author = Anthony Zurcher | periodical=BBC News | url = http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-echochambers-30485999 | accessdate = 2014-12-21}}
** Asked about Gul Rahman, who was taken into CIA custody as a result of mistaken identity, and died from CIA abuse.

==== 2015 ====
* ''Hugh Hewitt:'' Is he naïve, Mr. Vice President? Or does he have a far-reaching vision that only he entertains of a realigned Middle East that somehow it all works out in the end?
* ''Dick Cheney:'' I don't know, Hugh. I vacillate between the various theories I've heard, but you know, if you had somebody as president who wanted to take America down, who wanted to fundamentally weaken our position in the world and reduce our capacity to influence events, turn our back on our allies and encourage our adversaries, it would look exactly like what [[Barack Obama]]'s doing. I think his actions are constituted in my mind those of the worst president we've ever had.
** {{citation |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzmYQFaGEKU |periodical=Hugh Hewitt Radio |date=2015-04-08 }}, quoted in {{cite news | title = Cheney: If You Wanted a President 'To Take America Down … It Would Look Exactly Like What Barack Obama’s Doing | author =  DANIEL HALPER | periodical=The Weekly Standard | url = http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/cheney-if-you-wanted-president-take-america-down-it-would-look-exactly-what-barack-obama-s-doing_912837.html | accessdate = 2015-04-17}}
** Hewitt and Cheney discuss Obama's ongoing nuclear talks with Iran.

*I think this whole notion that somehow we can just say no more Muslims, just ban a whole religion, goes against everything we stand for and believe in. I wouldn't support a ban on all Muslims coming into this country.
**On [http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dick-cheney-more-conservatives-slam-trumps-proposal-to-keep-muslims-out-of-u-s/ ''The Hugh Hewitt Show''] (7 December 2015).

====2017====
[[File:Women%27s_March_2017-01_(12).jpg|thumb|There's something positive... when we can simultaneously swear in a new president and at the same time have a democratic process of people expressing their views. It's their right and we shouldn’t be surprised by it, or annoyed by it.]]
*I think what we did in Iraq was the right thing to do. I still believe that.
**[https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2017/1/23/dick-cheney-sarasota At the Ringling College Library Association Town Hall Lecture Series in Sarasota] (January 2017)

*If we hadn't taken down Saddam, [[Muammar Gaddafi|Gaddafi]] would not have surrendered his materials. Now Gaddafi's gone, dead, [and] ISIS plays a significant role today in Libya, [and] they would have inherited that material,” Cheney said. “So that whole area of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and so forth, everybody wants to say, ‘Well, there wasn’t any WMD in Iraq,’ but that's a small, small way to look at the problem.
**[https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2017/1/23/dick-cheney-sarasota At the Ringling College Library Association Town Hall Lecture Series in Sarasota] (January 2017)

*[[NATO]]'s crucial. NATO's maybe the best, or most successful, alliance in history... To suggest that it's obsolete is not correct. It's not obsolete. A lot of our NATO allies sent troops to serve alongside ours in Afghanistan after 9/11 and a lot of [[Europe|European]] soldiers were killed supporting what essentially was our response to an attack upon the United States.
**[https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2017/1/23/dick-cheney-sarasota At the Ringling College Library Association Town Hall Lecture Series in Sarasota] (January 2017)

*The threat levels are going up, the dangers are increasing and our capability to deal with them has gone down because of the way the Obama administration has operated for the last eight years.
**[https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2017/1/23/dick-cheney-sarasota At the Ringling College Library Association Town Hall Lecture Series in Sarasota] (January 2017)

*[F]ascinating... significant movement... [P]art of the American tradition... There's something positive... when we can simultaneously swear in a new president and at the same time have a democratic process of people expressing their views. It's their right and we shouldn't be surprised by it, or annoyed by it.
**[https://www.sarasotamagazine.com/articles/2017/1/23/dick-cheney-sarasota At the Ringling College Library Association Town Hall Lecture Series in Sarasota] (January 2017)

=== 2020s ===
==== 2022 ====
[[File:CPAC 2022 con Hermann Tertsch y Victor Gonzalez. (51914343337).jpg|thumb|In [[United States|our nation’s]] 246 year [[history]], there has never been an [[individual]] who is a greater threat to our republic than [[Donald Trump]].]]

* '''In [[United States|our nation’s]] 246 year [[history]], there has never been an [[individual]] who is a greater threat to our republic than [[Donald Trump]].''' He tried to [[steal]] [[2020 United States presidential election|the last election]] using [[lies]] and [[violence]] to keep himself in [[power]] after the [[voters]] had rejected him. He is a [[coward]]. A real man wouldn’t lie to his supporters. He lost his election and he lost big. I [[know]] it, he knows it and deep down I think most [[Republicans]] know it. <br />Lynne and I are so proud of  [[Liz Cheney|Liz]] for standing up for the [[truth]], doing what's [[Righteousness|right]], [[honoring]] her [[oath]] to [[United States Constitution|the Constitution]] when so many in our party are too scared to do so. Liz is fearless, she never backs down from a fight. '''There is nothing more [[important]] she will ever do than lead the effort to make sure Donald Trump is never again near the Oval Office and she will succeed.'''<!-- <br /> I am Dick Cheney, I proudly voted for my daughter and I hope you will too.  --> 
**In a political advertisement for his daughter [[Liz Cheney]]'s re-election, presented on [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqENj8NDjQU "Joe: GOP Has Become So Radical That Liz, Dick Cheney Are Considered So-Called 'RINOs'" (5 August 2022)]

==== 2024 ==== 
* [Donald Trump] tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. He can never be trusted with power again.<br>As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution.  That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President [[Kamala Harris]].
** [https://www.huffpost.com/entry/dick-cheney-voting-kamala-harris_n_66db4cf4e4b07b62af62c35a "Dick Cheney Is Voting For Kamala Harris"], ''Huffington Post'' (September 6, 2024)

==Quotes about Cheney ==
*(Vice President Dick Cheney said you wore out your welcome in Haiti. It’s time for you to go.) JBA: How can someone, after the kind of elections they had, now talk like that regarding [[Haiti]] where you had fair, democratic elections regarding the elected president...
**[[Jean-Bertrand Aristide]] [https://www.democracynow.org/2004/3/8/exclusive_br_aristide_speaks_to_democracy interview] with Democracy Now (March 08, 2004)

* At the same time, [[Henry Kissinger|Kissinger]], [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] and [[wikipedia:Détente|détente]] were condemned as weakening the West by a group of [[Conservatism|conservative]] [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] led by [[Henry M. Jackson|Henry (Scoop) Jackson]], a critic of SALT, as well as by key [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] who were influential in the [[Gerald Ford|Ford]] administration (1974–7), notably his Chief of Staff, Richard (Dick) Cheney, and the Secretary of Defense, [[Donald Rumsfeld]]. They drew on advice from commentators such as [[Richard Perle]], [[Richard Pipes]] and [[Paul Wolfowitz]] who warned about [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] intentions. The continuity of this group, through 1990s’ opposition to [[Bill Clinton|Clintonian]] [[Liberalism|liberal]] [[internationalism]], to the [[Neoconservatism|neo-conservative]] activism of the early 2000s, especially against [[Iraq War|Iraq]], is notable.
** [[Jeremy Black (historian)|Jeremy Black]], ''The Cold War: A Military History'' (2015)

* [[Middle East]] correspondent [[Robert Fisk]] was on the mark... in November 2002, he wrote, “[[Iraq]] had absolutely nothing to do with [[September 11 attacks|11 September]]. If the United States invades Iraq, we should remember that.” On many psychological levels, the Bush team was able to manipulate post-9/11 emotions well beyond the phantom of Iraqi involvement in that [[Crimes against humanity|crime against humanity]]. The dramatic changes in political climate after 9/11 included a drastic upward spike in the attitude—fervently stoked by the likes of Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney and the president—that our military should be willing to attack potential enemies before they might attack us. Few politicians or pundits were willing to confront the reality that this was a formula for perpetual war, and for the creation of vast numbers of new foes who would see a reciprocal logic in embracing such a credo themselves. President Bush’s national security adviser “felt the administration had little choice with Hussein,” reporter [[Bob Woodward]] recounted in mid-November 2002. A quote from [[Condoleezza Rice]] summed up the approach. “Take care of threats early.” Determining exactly what constitutes a threat—and how to “take care” of it—would be up to the eye of the beholder in the Oval Office.
** [[Norman Solomon]] in [http://www.coldtype.net/Assets.04/Essays.04/TARGET.IRAQ.pdf ''Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell  You,'' p. 99]  (2003)

* You know, I have repeatedly defended [[George W. Bush|President Bush]] against the [[Left-wing politics|left]] on [[Iraq War|Iraq]], even though I think he should have waited until the [[United Nations|U.N.]] inspections were over. I don't believe he went in there for [[oil]]. We didn't go in there for [[Imperialism|imperialist]] or financial reasons. We went in there because he bought the [[Paul Wolfowitz|Wolfowitz]]-Cheney analysis that the Iraqis would be better off, we could shake up the [[Authoritarianism|authoritarian]] [[Arabs|Arab]] regimes in the [[Middle East]], and our leverage to make peace between the [[Palestine|Palestinians]] and [[Israel|Israelis]] would be increased.
** [[Bill Clinton]], Interview with ''Time'', June 2004

*President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have asserted the president's right to wield virtually unchecked power. They have used the tragedy of 9/11 to implement a radical political agenda, attempting to ram through a right-wing wish list, from gutting [[Social Security (United States)|social security]] to delivering [[Taxation in the United States|tax]] cuts to the rich, to discarding basic [[civil liberties]]. Our government now routinely invades the [[privacy]] of its own citizens, then pulls the cloak of [[national security]] over its operations to hide its deceptions and blunders from public view. The [[Economy of the United States|economy]] has been trashed, [[inequality]] is now at levels not seen since the [[Great Depression]], and at least 5 million more Americans live in poverty than did at the start of the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush presidency]]. Many eminent [[Historian|historians]] and [[Economist|economists]] are concluding that George W. Bush has earned the distinction of being the "worst president ever."
**[[Amy Goodman]] ''Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times'' (2008)

*Vice President Dick Cheney made it clear who was setting the environmental agenda when he huddled behind closed doors with his former colleagues in the oil industry in early 2001 and virtually allowed them to write a new national energy policy to their liking. The result: the 2005 Energy Bill, which gave $16 billion in subsidies to the oil, gas, and coal industries, recommended opening the [[w:Arctic_National_Wildlife_Refuge|Arctic National Wildlife Refuge]] to oil and natural gas drilling, deregulated the [[electricity]] market, subsidized building new [[nuclear power]] plants, and dumbed down fuel economy standards for SUVs and light trucks.
**[[Amy Goodman]] ''Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times'' (2008)

*What Liam Madden saw in Iraq quickly disabused him of the idea that Americans were being "greeted as liberators," as Vice President Dick Cheney blithely promised in 2003. "People in Iraq had eyes full of fear and hopelessness. It was obvious to me that we were not helping those people. Any help was for propaganda-'Look, we're slapping a coat of paint on a building!' It was not systemic help." He was sent to Fallujah a few months after U.S. forces attacked in retaliation for the killings of four employees of Blackwater, the American mercenary firm. "It was devastated. Just rubble."...In the course of our conversation, Madden stops to do a brief radio interview. He is asked his view of his commander in chief and of Vice President Cheney. "I personally believe they are [[war criminals]]," he says without hesitating. Sounding like a seasoned [[Mass media|media]] professional, he is quick on his feet and forceful. "They committed a [[war of aggression]]. Certainly they should be [[Impeachment|impeached]] for trampling on the Constitution."
**[[Amy Goodman]] ''Standing Up to the Madness: Ordinary Heroes in Extraordinary Times'' (2008)

*We shall never know many of the facts about the invasion [of [[Panama]]], nor  shall we know the true extent of the massacre. Defense Secretary Richard Cheney claimed a death toll between five hundred and six hundred, but independent human rights groups estimated it at three thousand to five thousand, with another twenty-five thousand left  homeless... [[w:Manuel_Noriega|Noriega]] was arrested, flown to [[Miami]], and sentenced to forty years' imprisonment; at that time, he was the only person in the United States officially classified as a prisoner of war... The world was outraged by this breach of [[international law]] and  by the needless destruction of a defenseless people at the hands of  the most powerful military force on the planet, but few in the United States were aware of either the outrage or the crimes [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] had committed. Press coverage was very limited. A number of factors contributed to this, including government policy, White House phone calls to publishers and television executives, congress people who dared not object, lest the wimp factor become their problem,  and journalists who thought the public needed heroes rather than objectivity. 
**[[W:David Harris (protester)|David Harris]], ''Shooting the Moon: The True Story of an American Manhunt  Unlike Any Other, Ever'', p 6. '' (2001) quoted in [[Confessions of an Economic Hit Man|''Confessions of an Economic Hit Man'']], (2004)''

* Cheney and Rumsfeld were inveterate schemers whose cynicism about going to war was exceeded only by their ineptitude in conducting it.
** Jacob Heilbrunn, "[https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/books/review/to-start-a-war-robert-draper.html Why the United States Invaded Iraq]" New York Times (28 July 2020)

*Few talk or think about [[Iraq]] these days; the media ignores this important but demolished nation. Iraq, let us recall, was the target of a major western aggression concocted by [[George W Bush]], [[Dick Cheney]] and Britain's [[Tony Blair]], and financed and encouraged by the Gulf oil [[w:Sheikhdom|sheikdoms]] and [[Saudi Arabia]]... We hear nothing about the billions of dollars of [[W:Oil reserves in Iraq|Iraqi oil]] being extracted by [[W: Big Oil|big US oil firms]] since 2003.
**[[Eric Margolis]] in [https://www.commondreams.org/views/2019/11/17/forgotten-plunder-iraq The forgotten plunder of Iraq,  (November 17, 2019)]

* Recognize that Dick Cheney is the most cynical political figure to hold high office in this country since his former boss [[Richard Nixon|Dick Nixon]]. And he is perfectly willing to say what he thinks will advance him, particularly in an election season. In 1994, he was, at least in his own mind, competing for the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nomination for President in 1996. In [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]] of course he was competing for the vice presidency. In both cases he needed to seem to be a mainstream and responsible figure. But the real Dick Cheney, the man who was secretary of defense in 1990 and produced a secret plan for invading Iraq and capturing Saddam Hussein that was ultimately rejected by [[Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.|Norman Schwarzkopf]] and others, I don't think ever relinquished his desire to take control of Iraq and its oil.
**John Nichols, author of ''Dick: The Man Who is President'', reconciling the perceived change of heart Cheney had over toppling Saddam after 9/11, CSNBC 8-18-07

* One of the things that [his old professors at [[Yale University|Yale]]] said is that back in 1960 he was a guy who was looking for simple ideas about the world, most of them rooting back to the idea of the United States being able to do whatever it wants without any consequences. I don't think Dick Cheney has changed at all, but I do think we often see different faces of him when he believes it is politically convenient.
** John Nichols, author of ''Dick: The Man Who is President'', reconciling the perceived change of heart Cheney had over toppling Saddam after 9/11, CSNBC 8-18-07

* One week into the [[Gulf War|[Gulf] war]], the public mood had become unsettled and the media was becoming critical. After the success of the first day and the excitement of watching cruise missiles strike with incredible accuracy, it looked from the outside as though the war was going nowhere. "Why isn't the war over?" people were asking. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and I realized we had to act to settle things down. The point of decision for us at that moment was not in our offices or in the situation rooms monitoring the war, but down in the press room. We called a press conference where Dick gave an excellent summary of the strategic and political situation, and then I covered the military campaign. I summarized our actions during the previous week, concluding with a few sharp words detailing our strategy to kick the Iraqi army out of Kuwait: "First we are going to cut it off," I told the assembled reporters, "and then we are going to kill it." My line was picked up by all the newspapers and all the [[radio]] and [[Television|TV]] news shows. It did the trick. It told the people out there what they needed to know. Confidence about our war aims returned. And Dick and I could leave the front lines and get back to our offices.
** Colin Powell, ''It Worked For Me: In Life and Leadership'' (2012), p. 58

* I don't believe anyone that I know in the administration ever said that Iraq had nuclear weapons.
**Donald  Rumsfeld, at a hearing of the Senate's appropriations subcommittee on defense, May 14, 2003 [http://bushwatch.org/bushlies.htm]; Cheney asserted that Iraq had nuclear weapons March 16 of the same year on Meet the Press. On Sept 14 of that year, Cheney said the original statement was misstatement, and that he had meant to say "reconstituted nuclear weapons ''program''".

*As was documented in Josh Fox's excellent documentary Gasland, the chemicals injected into the ground pose serious health and environmental risks to drinking water, air quality, and wildlife. However, the full extent of the risk is not known, because the gas industry isn't required to disclose what chemicals are used, or in what quantities. If that complete lack of transparency sounds outrageous, it is. We have Dick Cheney to thank for the "Halliburton loophole," which exempts fracking companies from many of the disclosures normally required under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
**[[Bernie Sanders]] ''Our Revolution'' (2016)

* The real anomaly in the administration is Cheney. I consider Cheney a good friend &mdash; I've known him for 30 years. But Dick Cheney I don't know anymore.
** Brent Scowcroft [http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1025-05.htm]

* As a general matter, the left's favorite three lines of attack are (1) you're stupid; (2) you're mean; (3) you're corrupt. [[Sarah Palin]] is supposedly stupid; [[Mitt Romney]] is supposedly mean; Dick Cheney is supposedly corrupt. Take away those lines of attack and watch the discomfort set in.
** [[Ben Shapiro]], {{citation|date=2014-04-16|title=How to Debate Leftists and Destroy Them: 11 Rules for Winning the Argument|publisher=David Horowitz Freedom Center|location=Sherman Oaks|asin=B00JRJQ7Z2}}

* {{w|Harry Whittington}} ''[clip]'': My family and I are deeply sorry for all that Vice President Cheney and his family have had to go through this past week.<br />[[Jon Stewart]]: Wow. How powerful a man do you have to be to able to shoot someone in the face and have ''that guy'' say, "My bad"?
** [[Jon Stewart]], ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' season 11 episode 26, {{#formatdate:2006-02-21}}
** regarding Vice President Dick Cheney shooting lawyer {{w|Harry Whittington}} while hunting quail

*He became vice president well before [[George W. Bush|George Bush]] picked him. And he began to manipulate things from that point on, knowing that he was going to be able to convince this guy to pick him, knowing that he was then going to be able to wade into the vacuums that existed around George Bush &mdash; personality vacuum, character vacuum, details vacuum, experience vacuum. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/29/national/w172613S45.DTL&type=printable]
**Lawrence Wilkerson, chief of staff to [[w:Colin Powell|Colin Powell]].

*Clearly, he's a coward.
** former Reform Party governor/ Navy UDT [[Jesse Ventura]]. [http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/05/jesse-ventura-powells-a-war-hero-cheney-ran-and-hid/]

== External links ==
{{wikipedia}}
{{wikinews|Dick Cheney}}
{{wikisource author}}
{{commons|Dick Cheney}}
* [http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/presbush/cheney.htm US Department of State]
* [http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/c/dick_cheney/index.html '' The New York Times'' — Dick Cheney] archives
*Vice Presidential Debate (5 October 2004): [http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2004b.html Transcript text], [http://cspanquery.streamsage.com/query/playback.smil?XslFile=realplayer.xsl&contentType=text/smil&FILEID=139&WD=true&search=&numDisplay=10&startValue=1&sortBy=file_date&sortOrder=desc&program=&source=&div_display=none&startDate=2004-01-01&endDate=&s Audio] and Video ([http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/politics/100504-16v.ram RealPlayer] or [http://www.archive.org/movies/movies-details-db.php?collection=election_2004&collectionid=vice_presidential_debate_10_5_04 MPG] format)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheney, Dick}}
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