"The flaws in the intelligence are plain enough in
hindsight. But any suggestion that prewar information was
distorted, hyped or fabricated by the leader of the nation
is utterly false," Cheney said in a speech to the American
Enterprise Institute.
Bush, Cheney is claiming, was not involved in any
fabrication of evidence. Yet fabrication did occur, with
the Niger forgeries, and in the neocon's private
intelligence group, as is likely to come out in the
various prosecutions underway. In effect, Cheney is
attempting to shield his boss, leaving his own neck in the
noose.
But, Cheney added, "Those who advocate a sudden withdrawal
from Iraq should answer a few simple questions," including
whether the United States be "better off or worse off"
with terror leaders such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Osama
bin Laden , or Ayman al-Zawahiri in control?
There will be no sudden withdrawal from Iraq. The neocons
may go, but the U.S. is not going to give up control of
the oil, or of the permanent bases it is building. Perhaps
the pacification project will be abandoned, and the
occupiers will withdraw to their bases and oil fields,
with autonomy granted to the various Iraqi factions. When
civil war results, the blame will be laid to the neocon
scapegoats. Meanwhile the conflict can be manipulated to
U.S. advantage, covertly and by air strikes, without major
risk to occupation forces.
rkm
--------------------------------------------------------
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051121/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_iraq_24
Cheney: Some Iraq Critics Are 'Dishonest'
By DOUGLASS K. DANIEL Mon Nov 21, 2:53 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney on Monday said he
strongly disagrees with a battle-tested congressman who
advocates quickly pulling all U.S. troops from Iraq ,
calling such a proposal "a dangerous illusion."
But Cheney stopped short of joining those Republicans who
have questioned the patriotism and courage of Rep. John
Murtha ( news ,bio ,voting record ), D-Pa., calling him "a
good man, a Marine, a patriot." Cheney's subdued comments
about Murtha followed those of President Bush and Defense
Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.
At the same time, Cheney pressed the administration's
high-voltage attack on war critics, particularly Senate
Democrats who voted in October 2002 to give Bush authority
to go to war in Iraq and who now oppose his policy,
calling them "dishonest and reprehensible."
"The flaws in the intelligence are plain enough in
hindsight. But any suggestion that prewar information was
distorted, hyped or fabricated by the leader of the nation
is utterly false," Cheney said in a speech to the American
Enterprise Institute.
As to proposals for a rapid pullout of U.S. troops, Cheney
said, "It is a dangerous illusion to suppose that another
retreat by the civilized world would satisfy the appetite
of the terrorists and get them to leave us alone." Nearly
160,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq.
Cheney ticked off a long list of terrorist attacks on
American interests going back more than the two decades
that preceded the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq,
including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and earlier ones in
Beirut, Saudi Arabia and Africa.
"Now they're making a stand in Iraq, testing our resolve,
trying to intimidate the United States into abandoning our
friends and permitting the overthrow of this new Middle
Eastern democracy," Cheney said.
He said he respected the right of Murtha to form his own
opinion. Murtha has served in Congress for three decades,
is a decorated Marine combat veteran from Vietnam, the top
Democrat on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee
and has long been an ardent defender of the armed forces.
"Nor is there any problem with debating whether the United
States and its allies should have liberated Iraq in the
first place," Cheney said. "Nobody is saying we should not
be having this discussion."
But, Cheney added, "Those who advocate a sudden withdrawal
from Iraq should answer a few simple questions," including
whether the United States be "better off or worse off"
with terror leaders such as Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Osama
bin Laden , or Ayman al-Zawahiri in control?
On Monday, Murtha defended his call to get out of Iraq,
saying he was reflecting Americans' sentiment.
"The public turned against this war before I said it,"
Murtha said, speaking in his hometown of Johnstown, Pa.
"The public is emotionally tied into finding a solution to
this thing, and that's what I hope this administration is
going to find out."
The administration has been toning down its criticism of
Murtha since White House spokesman Scott McClellan derided
him last week as an ultraliberal, likening him to activist
far-left filmmaker Michael Moore.
The Iraq debate turned more vitriolic in recent days, with
the Senate voting overwhelmingly to require fuller
reporting by the administration on progress, and by
Murtha's proposal. That brought sharp criticism from the
White House and led to a tumultuous late-night House floor
fight when the GOP leaders forced a vote on an immediate
pullout measure in hopes of trapping Democrats. It was
rejected 403-3.
Meanwhile, troop levels will remain at their present
levels as Iraqis prepare for elections Dec. 15, and will
return to a baseline strength of 130,000 when the
commanders there determine that conditions on the ground
warrant it, Rumsfeld said on Sunday.
Some Republicans on Capitol Hill called Murtha's position
one of abandonment and surrender and suggested that the
decorated Marine Corps veteran and like-minded politicians
were acting cowardly.
But Bush, who was returning Monday from a tour of Asia,
praised Murtha as "a fine man" and said that disagreeing
with the administration was not unpatriotic.
Rumsfeld, appearing on the Sunday morning news shows,
acknowledged that questions about war ought to be debated,
but he also warned that words have consequences for both
the insurgents in Iraq and the U.S. troops opposing them.
"The enemy hears a big debate in the United States, and
they have to wonder: 'Maybe all we have to do is wait and
we'll win. We can't win militarily.' They know that. The
battle is here in the United States," Rumsfeld said on
"Fox News Sunday."
--
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