Our Administration Will Stand the Test of History
For all the partisan anger that still lingers, our administration will stand up well in history - not despite our actions after 9/11, but because of them. And when I think about all that was to come during our administration and afterward - the recriminations, the second-guessing, the charges of "hubris" - my mind always goes back to that moment.
To put things in perspective, suppose that on the evening of 9/11, President Bush and I had promised that for as long as we held office - which was to be another 2,689 days - there would never be another terrorist attack inside this country. Talk about hubris - it would have seemed a rash and irresponsible thing to say. People would have doubted that we even understood the enormity of what had just happened. Everyone had a very bad feeling about all of this, and felt certain that the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and Shanksville were only the beginning of the violence.
Of course, we made no such promise. Instead, we promised an all-out effort to protect this country. We said we would marshal all elements of our nation's power to fight this war and to win it. We said we would never forget what had happened on 9/11, even if the day came when many others did forget. We spoke of a war that would "include dramatic strikes, visible on TV, and covert operations, secret even in success." We followed through on all of this, and we stayed true to our word.
To the very end of our administration, we kept al-Qaeda terrorists busy with other problems. We focused on getting their secrets, instead of sharing ours with them. And on our watch, they never hit this country again. After the most lethal and devastating terrorist attack ever, seven and a half years without a repeat is not a record to be rebuked and scorned, much less criminalized. It is a record to be continued until the danger has passed.
Along the way there were some hard calls. No decision of national security was ever made lightly, and certainly never made in haste. As in all warfare, there have been costs - none higher than the sacrifices of those killed and wounded in our country's service. And even the most decisive victories can never take away the sorrow of losing so many of our own - all those innocent victims of 9/11, and the heroic souls who died trying to save them.
For all that we've lost in this conflict, the United States has never lost its moral bearings. And when the moral reckoning turns to the men known as high-value terrorists, I can assure you they were neither innocent nor victims. As for those who asked them questions and got answers: they did the right thing, they made our country safer, and a lot of Americans are alive today because of them.
Like so many others who serve America, they are not the kind to insist on a thank-you. But I will always be grateful to each one of them, and proud to have served with them for a time in the same cause. They, and so many others, have given honorable service to our country through all the difficulties and all the dangers. I will always admire them and wish them well. And I am confident that this nation will never take their work, their dedication, or their achievements, for granted.
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Of course that administration will stand the test of history. Whatever Cheney thinks, the fact is that administration is a casebook study as to what can happen in a democratic country when rampant greed, ego and cynical, brilliant, albeit sinister use of fear is employed to manipulate and intimidate people (and the press) at a time of national tragedy and uncertainty.
But then Cheney and his cabal aren't the only ones to blame for what has happened and what continues to be fostered in what has become the purveyors of fear of hate...the American public itself, apathetic or disengaged, disempowered, or believing itself to be, is at the end to blame.
and found wanting..
I honestly do give you credit Mr. Cheney, it's incredibly brave to make the statement that history will judge your administration in a positive way. I anticipate history will likely only judge the past even more harshly than it has already.. that seems to be the norm. The best the past administration can hope for is faulty memory.
As far as Gitmo... I think Barrack has somewhat cornered himself on that one. I agree that torture is wrong in all forms.. and Guantanamo should be closed, but we are still engaged in a war... and where there's war, there are war prisoners. Which is why I agree that if we close Gitmo we will simply have to create another form of it.
I support Obama completely on the closing of the facility were it not for that one extremely problematic objection. I think we should always push for our ideals and maintain our moral high ground, but as long as there is war... then we are still far from that goal.
ps. It's incredible to be involved in a debate with Cheney and Obama - even if only in some small way... you gotta love the internet and the age we live in.
Are you willing to stand trial? We here in the Netherlands are ready to provide comfortable accomodations. I am all for opening the floor for all questions and have you answer under oath.
Right now you represent and enable a segment of US society that thinks it can get away with viking style plunder. Many countries in the world disagree. Very soon, you might be cautious about travelling abroad - you never know which country has extradition treaties with whom. You might find yourself on a plane to stand trial, whining for your apnoe machine every step of the way.
When you step down off that high horse, I would like to invite you to reconsider the statement: "Right now you represent and enable a segment of US society that thinks it can get away with viking style plunder." If that statement had any basis in fact, you would right this very minute be flying the American flag over your country.
Don't forget that the U.S. is the country that helps to rebuild all the countries it goes to war with while all other countries sit back and reap the benefits. Billions upon billions of dollars have been shelled out by the U.S. to rebuild Western Europe and Japan after WWII, and South Korea after the armistice there. Does this sound like Viking style plunder to you? It doesn't to me.
Yes, it does. And yes, the american flages and political dominion clearly covers my country. It isn't a roman-style occupation, but with modern mass-marketed media it doesn't have to be.
But let me spell it out - the former presidency spelled it out clearly - those who aren't with us, are against us. I can understand you are very close to the propaganda machinery, and dissent is easily dispelled, but it looks very much different from this end.
And yes, the way the US behaved itself in Iraq would have made actual vikings shudder with contempt. Babies born en masse due to powdered DEPLU ammunution. The US army moved first to occupy the ministry of oil affairs, ignoring every other ministry, the Iraqi banks and Saddams pakaces for weeks. How telling was that? I accuse the whole expedition into Iraq was motivated by the pure and simple desire to place corporate executioners lined up when bidding for contract would start. For this purpose you hanged Saddam in the most ruthlesly expedient manner, just when he started talking about the US position and his involvement with CIA interests, and you shock & awed over a million Iraqi into extinction.
If you have any level of patience and intellectual maturity find the time to watch the next video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7333556703536657423
Bear in mind - I am a fierce modernist, I loathed Saddam, I am deeply suspicious of Islam. But right now I have far more reason to regard te US as a critical threat to global peace. We can only hope that external influences force the US to relinquish this stranglehold without massive bloodshed. We can only hope that when the US comes down to earth it won't lead to the rivalrous, social darwinist and bloodless US society to implode.
Yea, the Vikings, those pillars of morality, would really be appalled. They killed indiscriminately and left few alive in their wake. The U.S. goes to great lengths to reduce the number of collateral casualties in war. I am a U.S. Army veteran, and I speak from experience. You are an outsider, and you speak from anti-American propaganda.
As to depleted uranium and "babies born en masse due to powered" depleted uranium: could you provide quantification for that comment? According the World Health Organization, "No reproductive or developmental effects have been reported in humans" as a result of even prolonged exposure to DU.
And while I can't refute your comment about the U.S. seizing the ministry of oil : do you think that MIGHT be due to Iraq's actions during the first gulf war? Remember the images of burning oil fields, blacked out skies? And as Iraq's most valuable resource, does it not make sense to secure the oil immediately? I'm not arguing the motivation, I'm just presenting another point of view to consider.
And as for the motivation of the war in the first place, you are welcome to your opinion, but there is not enough evidence to support it. There is, however, ample evidence to suggest that the Bush administration made decisions based on the best intelligence they had at the time. intelligence that was also supported by the UK and Russia at the time.
Since when did the U.S. hang Saddam? Last time I checked he was tried and convicted in Iraqi court. If you have a problem with how it was carried out, I suggest you take it up with them.
Finally, in the future, keep your insults about America in general to yourself. Not once did I degrade you for being from The Netherlands, nor would I presume to do so. Suggesting that the U.S. is the root of all the world's evils is the height of arrogance. It also ignores the realities of today's world, and completely ignores history.