Cheney: Early Iraq Pullout Won’t Be Allowed
US Vice President Dick Cheney has assured political allies that an early withdrawal of US forces from Iraq would not be allowed, despite efforts by Congress to impose a deadline on US combat operations there.
The comments late Saturday followed a historic vote Friday in the House of Representatives, which called for a pullout of US combat troops from Iraq by August 31, 2008 — regardless of whether Iraqi security forces are ready to take over from them.
President George W. Bush has vowed to veto the measure. But the threat has called into question the future of a 124-billion-dollar emergency funding bill, to which it is attached.
Lacking line-item veto power, Bush can reject bills only in their entirety.
In light of this circumstance, the president acknowledged earlier Saturday that if the bill that finances the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is not passed by April 15, the military “will face significant disruptions.”
Cheney for his part used his appearance before the Republican Jewish Coalition in Manalaplan, Florida, to reassure allies that the current political struggle will not result in a precipitous US withdrawal from Iraq.
“A sudden withdrawal of our coalition would dissipate much of the effort that has gone into fighting the global war on terror, and result in chaos and mounting danger,” the vice president declared. “And for the sake of our own security, we will not stand by and let it happen.”
He did not explain what steps the administration could take if the supplemental bill dies in partisan bickering. But he expressed confidence in the final outcome, stating “We will complete the mission, and we will prevail.”
Quoting extensively from Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the vice president reiterated his conviction that an US early withdrawal from Iraq would be “a complete validation of the Al-Qaeda strategy.”
And he painted a dire picture of the Muslim world descending into chaos and tyranny, if radical Islamists were allowed to prevail.
“Having tasted victory in Iraq, jihadists would look for new missions,” he predicted. “Many would head for Afghanistan and fight alongside the Taliban. Others would set out for capitals across the Middle East, spreading more sorrow and discord as they eliminate dissenters and work to undermine moderate governments.”
The speech marked a ratcheting up of a tense standoff between the White House and Democratic-controlled Congress, which is under heavy pressure from constituents to find a way to wrap up the war that most Americans now believe was a mistake.
But the Democrats made clear they have no intention of backing down. In a radio address Saturday, Representative Paul Hodes said the era of blank checks issued by Congress to the president was over and urged Bush to respond “by listening to the American people.”
The angry debate added a new wrinkle Sunday, when a leading US foreign policy expert, former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, delivered a stinging rebuke to the whole concept of the war on terror, arguing it was promoting “a culture of fear” that was being exploited for political and financial gain.
“The sense of a pervasive but otherwise imprecise danger was thus channeled in a politically expedient direction by the mobilizing appeal of being ‘at war’,” he wrote in The Washington Post.
The fear, Brzezinski argued, was also being exploited by so-called “terror entrepreneurs.”
He reminded that in 2003, Congress identified 160 sites as potential terrorism targets that should be fortified at the government’s expense.
With lobbyists weighing in, Brzezinski noted, by the end of that year the list had grown to 1,849, by the end of 2004 — to 28,360, and by 2005 — to 77,769.
Now, he said, the database lists some 300,000 possible targets, which include not only the Sears Tower in Chicago, but also the Illinois Apple and Pork Festival.
“US Vice President Dick Cheney has assured political allies that an early withdrawal of US forces from Iraq would not be allowed, despite efforts by Congress to impose a deadline on US combat operations there.”
Which allies would those be….the ones pulling their troops out of Iraq, or the ones that got billions of dollars in tax breaks, complements of this administration and their rubber-stampers?
Can this current defiance of the will of Congress and the American people AND the current surge of troops AND the rejection of the Iraq commission all be due to needing to stay in Iraq until the oil companies have successfully completed their takeover of Iraq’s oil industry? Their proposed agreements guarantee profits for 25 years, do not require them to re-invest profits in Iraq or to hire Iraqi employees, are a type of agreement used at only 12 percent of the world’s oil fields, none of which are in the Middle East. And, although they deny it, several writers have put their share of the profits at 70 percent versus a usual percentage of 10 to 10.
Just wondering. It certainly would explain the largest embassy in the world and the slew of permanent bases and the tendency to do what benefits the administration*s friends in the energy industry.
And this is the Vice President of the United States?
Pardon me, but from where does he get the authority to speak for us all?
If I were president, that is if there WAS a president, I would whack Mr. Snarly up the side of the head and tell him to shut the fug up.
[sigh!] Yes, I know the reality is that our present Vee-Pee has turned the office into a presence of power unknown to the Constitution.
Arguably insane, that is in the sense of being out of touch with reality, Mr. S
[oops! hit the button inadvertantl] …Mr. Snarly (Cheney) embodies a creeping coup against the government of the United States
Brzezinski’s term “terror entrepreneurs” points to the true reason for so much of this ‘war on terror’. Just ask the VP!
“Cheney for his part used his appearance before the Republican Jewish Coalition in Manalaplan, Florida, to reassure allies that the current political struggle will not result in a precipitous US withdrawal from Iraq.”
The Republican Jewish Coalition + AIPAC + StandWithUs.com + Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations + JINSA + a whole host of “think tanks” + most members of Congress + the PNAC = proxies for Israel.
Israel (and its proxies) + oil + drive for permanent US military bases = the escalating war(s) in the Middle East.
Escalating war(s) in the Middle East + multiple nuclear armed players + the creation of more Islamic extremists = _______?
It looks like we’re headed for a high-stakes showdown over the war, so hang on to your hats.
But can we just take a moment here for a deep sigh of relief? Isn’t it just terrific to see Cheney/Bush frantically scrambling for support, now that the House of Representatives has driven a stake through the heart of their plans for world military domination? And now Brzezinski drives the stake in even further. YES!!!
God has spoken. Congress and the people be damned.
Jeez, I don’t see what Bush/Cheney are/is worried about. When the moral-midget-in-chief receives the bill, all he has to do is sign it and issue a signing statement saying he’s going to ignore it, just as he and his friends ignore any law they find inconvenient. So what’s the fuss about, Dick and George? It’s just a law. It’s just the will of the people, expressed as law through their freely elected representatives.
Unrest? Unrest? I see why you chose to title yourself a Robot.
This is why our military is now called the OPF. (Oil Protection Force) They are stationed all over the globe protecting Cheney’s oil empire.
Dick Cheney is one of if not the most evil person on earth. I have never seen such hate on anyone’s face as on his.Cheney hates America,our way of life and our constitution.To save this Republic Bush/Cheney and their criminal administration must be IMPEACHED NOW.If Nancy Pelosi doesn’t want to be the leader to do it she should be replaced.
This is a clear case of not representing the will of the American people in a democratic country. Therefore, our representatives, the Senate and the House of Representatives are required to act (check and balance) to protect our Constitution. This action must take the form of impeachment proceedings immediately to forestall any presidential veto activity against the November. 2006, national election vote of no confidence in the current administration. We now have a dictatorship if Congress does not exercise its legal responsibility and represent the citizens of this sovereign nation.
Sorry about that, Robot. Your post didn’t come across in the way you intended. My apologies.
“One attack on US soil and all this anti-war opposition will be a fart in the wind.”
Meaning, what, Unethical Robot? I guess I’m having a hard time deciphering which side of the coin you’re on.
Do you think most here are ready to believe that “one attack on US soil” may not be a contrived occurence? Do you not have any doubt that past “attacks” may not have been set up, or at least, helped along?
And just who, pray tell, from Iraq is going to attack the US? Saddam? The Baathist Party? Um Kazum and Ish Kabbible?
In other words…wha?
This guy’s lust for blood has no limits. What he calls `hunting’ is more like slaughter. His lust for power kills, tortures, maims millions of poor US and Iraq citizens. Louis XII would never have dared demonstrate such arrogance.
If we, the people, can get Bush and Cheney to leave office earlier rather than later Nancy Pelosi will become president. Some might regard that as problematic but, since it’s hard to conceive of anything more problematic than Bush and Cheney, those worried shouldn’t trouble themselves overmuch. After B & C things can only get better.
Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure rhymes.” Nowadays, everytime I hear something about Dick Cheney, I’m reminded of François Leclerc du Tremblay; also known as the Grey Eminence.
Leclerc du Tremblay had a dream of getting Europe to embark on another crusade against the Turks, and believed that the house of Austria was the obstacle to that universal European peace which would make this possible.
If a few words are changed, this sure sounds a lot like our present day Grey Eminence in the White House. François Leclerc du Tremblay was also the papal envoy. Today, Cheney is Mr. Bushe’s envoy; securing oil fields acoss the globe.
The one big difference between these two men was that François did fight in the military of his day, unlike Cheney, who had “other priorities.
Has anyone in history been more consistently and more publically wrong than Dick “Saddam = 9/11, mushroom cloud, we know where the WMD are, greeted as liberators, last throes” Cheney? The saps who voted for good ol’ W didn’t realize they actually voted for Cheney, the world’s most dangerous man. Why does this lying sack of wind have any credibility left? Why is anyone listening to him? Why aren’t we impeaching his deceitful, murdering, corrupt, conflict-of-interested hide?
It completely stumps me how Cheney and the rest of these deluded powermongering fascists, who have either lied or been wrong on virtually everything they have said or implemented, can even have the nerve to crawl out of their caves and make any sort of claim that any sane human being would believe.
They are in the process of destroying not only the Middle East, but this country as well. Forget Al Quaeda. It’s Bush and Cheney who are the real the Middle East and the US.
wcdevins,
you forgot, ‘oops, I shot my friend in the face and hid from the news for two days’ Cheney.
It astounds and worries me that the man has been attaching himself to administrations from way back … and even was referred to as one of the “crazies”… what is it about this man who insinuates himself and his crazy ideas and gangster-like attitudes /behaviour
into the global theatre the way he does… it seems as if we are all mezmerized by his audacity– and the little bit (or a lot)of fear that he plants and waters every time he has a podium or a Russert gig.
I’m reminded of a mad dog– nobody knows what to do about him.
Someone once said, comedy is the greatest weapon against the arrogance of power.
A stiff dose of ridicule…. could we laugh them out of office?
As Kurt Vonnegut once said about the Vietnam War, the Iraq war too is “All about the ammunition business”
Oil is just one form of the “ammunition” we’re being bilked for by Cheney and his cronies. These guys know they only have 8 years to rape our country as much as they can. They are the anti-patriots, making a buck off of destroying our Constitution bit by bit, then moving off to Dubai with our money.
Solution? If you didn’t vote for the Bush machine then you don’t have to kill Iraqis for them. And if you did vote for them, well, son, grab a rifle and a bunch of gauze….
I really, truly do not understand why Cheney is allowed to get away with this stuff.
No, I’m not naive, uneducated, or uninformed. I truly don’t understand why there is such widespread tolerance of Cheney’s arrogance and belligence.
If there had not been some Republicans who put country before party, Nixon would not have been pressed to resign. And the country would have been put through a nightmare.
Are there really now so few politicians who are willing to seek the country’s good?
King George is so delusional that he actually thinks that he is the greatest president ever. He is absolutely terrified that he will be remembered as the loser he really is.He was a failure at everything he ever did including his”military service?”. So along comes Cheney who is also a nut case and together they think they can conquer the world.Bush certainly has lost touch with reality and badly needs psychiatric help.Cheney, there is no hope for him because he has lost his mind. Watch Bush’s eyes when he gives speeches and you will see the madman that he is. He will never change and the people of the US deserve to have Bush, Cheney,Rice impeached and charged with war crimes in the International Court. They hanged Saddam fo alledgely killing 148 people, what would they do to this trio for the deaths of hundreds of thousands.
It is time for the people of the US to rise up and take back their country while there is still something left to salvage.
Bush will no doubt move to Paraquay after his fall (since there is no extradition) but will leave the rest of us to suffer through reconstruction of this country.
regarding the words of cheney is like reagarding the words of goering - who cares what cheney says - its like caring about the nature of the smell of the shit on the bottom of your shoe.
his crimes hide in plain sight.
Okay, here we go with blackmail again. Cheney is basically using the “troops” i.e. american kids in iraq, as the button to push to embezzle taxes.
he is basically saying that if he doesn’t get the money he wants, he will “disrupt” our troops in order to be able to come back and say, “see! you witheld the money and now look what happened.”
I’m sure he’s unaware of this slip. He should be brought up on capital charges of treason for that alone.
cheney embodies the entire reason that poverty exists today. think about it. somebody must be poor or else how can the wealthiest people get richer? it’s all just a game. try not to be a pawn in it i guess.
IMPEACH PELOSI!!!!
You should all take a very good look at the PNAC act and you will find that everyone who signed this Act are all part of the Cheney cabal and all hold positions in the government. Cheney is the worst of the lot of them…he is the ‘dirty tricks’ guy to go to when the party wants to destroy anyone in the opposition. As for the Democrats they are no different either. I had great hopes for Pelosi until I realized that she too wants to continue this devastating war and for the same reason OIL.
You are NEVER going to come home unless it is in a body bag, a broken mind, and a broken body.
THEY - NEITHER PARTY have no real differences at all. Both want the same thing….they want Iraq’s oil and the domination of the Middle East. It is just a matter of who is in control of the White House.
As to the ‘people’ forget about them…they do not matter either…they are the ‘cannon fodder’ to obtain these greedy plutocrats and your LIVES mean absolutely nothing to these men.
The American people have gotten so used to being suckered they will fall for anything. Marches? Forget about it….they will let you march until doomsday.
Maybe that is what Haliburton is doing in building and renovating those unused army bases. The new “American Peoples Guatanamo” for incarceration of the ‘unwilling and uneducated masses’. There is so much propaganda put out to the ‘great unwashed’ that they are paying no attention anymore….they are the ’sheeples’ being led to the slaughter.
You are NEVER going to get your country back. It is already on the way towards being a one party ruled and inevitably both Democrats and Republicans will join together into one Party rule. Say goodbye to Democracy and welcome Fascism…..or something very, very close to that.
Good bye America….you had a good run…but you’re too late to save your country and you won’t be allowed to do so in any case.
Perpetual war is on the Agenda so Bless your sons and daughters as they go out there to fight for ‘pretend’ enemies.
Orwell is alive and well and working ‘just for you’.
“Cheney: Early Iraq Pullout Won’t Be Allowed”
because it would expose the Mosul-Haifa oil pipline to attacks………
see Jane’s intelligence digest article “Oil from Iraq : An Israeli pipedream?”
http://www.janes.com/regional_news/africa_middle_east/news/fr/fr030416_1_n.shtml
“All of this lends weight to the theory that Bush’s war is part of a masterplan to reshape the Middle East to serve Israel’s interests. Haaretz quoted Paritzky as saying that the pipeline project is economically justifiable because it would dramatically reduce Israel’s energy bill.”
Gotcha, Robot. Guess I wasn’t the only one who was confusalated by your post. I’m sorry.
P.S. Don’t quit coins yet…you may have to melt them down to sell on the black market if/when the dollar hits zero.
All this hyperbole about oil this and oil that. And yet not a whimper from the drones about the OBVIOUS answer to oil corporations, NATIONALIZE IT!! From the buy out of the throne’s power to tax by the East India Tea Company, ( which caused a little ruffle known as the Boston Tea Party), to our on-going slaughter for Israel in Iraq, these swine have shown they CANNOT be trusted with the PEOPLE’S resources. Answer? you take it and the media out of their hands and put it where it belongs. Under the CONTROL of the U.S.sheeple.
Republican senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska had it right, Sunday hinted impeachment of Bush over his war policy. But shouldn’t Cheney go first?
In the April edition of Esquire magazine, Hagel described Bush as someone who doesn’t believe he’s accountable to anyone.
“He’s not accountable anymore, which isn’t totally true. You can impeach him, and before this is over, you might see calls for his impeachment. I don’t know. It depends on how this goes,” Hagel told the magazine.
My favorite Cheney episode: the Vice President turned and whipped his neck around and said, “Of course the orders still stand. Have you heard anything to the contrary?” This is going to get RIPE!
- V
Some history would be good here for everyone. First of all, what the #$!#$ is an Islamist? I have never heard of such a word until the last 6 years when this administration began to use it as a substitute for terrorist. So then, was Timothy McVeigh an Islamist? I have some Muslim friends and none of them have ever heard of the term. The term is being used in an Orwellian manner to conflate Islam with terrorism.
The next part of our history lesson today starts in 1953, in Iran. When the British oil company Aramco & MI6 enlisted the CIA in its first covert operation to sack the newly Democratically ELECTED government of Mohammed Mossadeg. Mossadeg attempted to nationalize the Iranian oil industry which was owned by Aramco - which later changed its name to Britich Petroleum in order to distance itself from the coup in Iran. This is when we began to spread “freedom” in the region by removing any government not friendly to US business interests and replacing elected governments with dictatorships like the House of Saud and others. The most recent installation of a dictator in the region was Saddam Hussein. When Saddam figured out the US was selling weapons to Iran AND Iraq during their 8 year war - which the US enlisted Iraq into and then provided intel and logistics for - he was not too happy. This is when he began to be a problem for the US. All of this talk of a war between Islam and Christianity is the ruse used to garner support by this administration. Americans need to wake up and start to read some history about this region. Most of us do not know the difference between a Shiite and a Sunni Muslim. To say they are equivalent to Catholics and Protestants isa simplification but then if you look at the relationship of the 2 christian factions in Ireland you can get a better idea of their behavior… since 632 AD. Timelines are nothing to be concerned about either in the region since the fight between the Shiites and Sunnis has been going on much longer than anyone in the US cares to wait it out.
Wake up folks and remember that you have been lied to for generations now by both government and media regarding the Middle East, including Israel. Example; most of you do not know that the first act of modern terrorism was committed by Zionist jews when they bombed the hotel being used by the British military in Palestine. Ariel Sharon, Ben Gurion and Menachim Begin participated in the attack and all became Israeli Prime Minsters later on. Educate yourself on the realities of the Middle East and you will see who the real terrorists are.
Correction tike1290, Orwell isn’t alive and well. I wish he were because we need someone with his insight. I think you meant Big Brother is alive and well and working “just for you”
Correct me if I’m wrong but wasn’t President John F. Kennedy assassinated for a whole lot less than what these two crooks Shrub and “Shoot Him in the Face” Cheney have been up to?????
Deise comments are einen disgrace zu der Vaterland! Der FUhrer George Bush mussen prevail ober die likes of Du!
Ve haf our vays of elimintaing za problem people in our welt, ve send zu off to za death kamps! Did I say Death Kamps? I meant zu sagen Education Kamps, Ja, das ist richt.
Ob der Kongress does not gif der FUhrer all za money he vants he vill TAKE IT VOM DU! Ve vill institute free dental care un zend everyone zu der dentist und remove you gold und silver fillings for use by der FUhrer zu march his troops upon der rotten Juden! Did I say Rotten Juden…ha ha ah zilly me, I meant Rotten Islamo Facists! Ja ja das ist richt…old haibts ist zo hard zu break ja?
IMPEACHMENT NOW!!!
BOTH OF THEM!!!
Write you senators and representative, even if you know they aren’t listening. Then send the letters to your local papers, even if they’re not printing them. Then blog them on as many sites as you can. The INTERNET is the ONE PLACE where we still have the ability to COMMUNICATE and ORGANIZE.
Join or start a PDA chapter or join one of the other fine progressive activist groups that support the impeachment and an out of Iraq strategy.
Some history would be good here for everyone,indeed, that includes you. Ar Am Co, is the acronym for Arab American company. What makes you think that the US oil companies haven’t been involved in this area from the get go. I’m not a teacher, so I’ll let you do your own search.
I’m wondering what is going to happen when the CO2 from use of all this oil gets into the atmosphere and global warming really gets going in earnest. Will all of this discussion about Democrat and Republican, Islam and Christian and Jew, and even rich and poor turn out to be “bye bye human race, you blew it”.
G Bubbles “bye bye human race, you blew it”. You hit the nail right on the head!!!
The reality is even if carbon emissions were thearetically remained at 2007 levels, by 2050 global temp would increase by 2-3 degrees centigrade. Global warming is currently a run away train. Its just now a question of what version of HELL on earth do you fancy. Global warming /Climate change is happening MUCH faster than any administration/bureaucratic official even understands/knows or is in DENIAL about!!!!
IMPEACH GLOBAL WARMING!!!!
cheny et al are very simple and very scary - they’re starting the apocalypse so they can loot.
It is time we get rid of evil doers in the present administration starting with the chief evil doer Bush, vice chief evildoer Cheny, attorney general evil doer Gonzales, the rubber stamp evil doers congress. It is very scarey what these people are doing. It took the americans three centuries to have the best country in the world, and only 6 long, painful years for the present administration to screw it all up. I am sick and tired of hearing every day of a new scandel. When are we going to wake up. What happened to the people of the sixties. Have we grown up or mellowed up that much that we take any sh** they throw our way. Wake up america and voice your protest. Organize and protest.
It’s time to throw the money changers out of the temple. Flood the offices of your senators and congressman and the speaker of the house with one word over and over again: IMPEACH!!!!