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Published on Monday, August 31, 2009 by The Wall Street Journal

Cheney Says He Was Proponent for Military Action Against Iran

by Michael M. Phillips

WASHINGTON -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney hinted that, in the waning days of the Bush administration, he had pushed for a military strike to destroy Iran's nuclear-weapons program.

"I was probably a bigger advocate of military action than any of my colleagues," Dick Cheney said, regarding Iran and its nuclear ambitions. (Fox News Sunday) "I was probably a bigger advocate of military action than any of my colleagues," Dick Cheney said, regarding Iran and its nuclear ambitions.

In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Mr. Cheney described himself as being isolated among advisers to then-President George W. Bush, who ultimately decided against direct military action.

"I was probably a bigger advocate of military action than any of my colleagues," Mr. Cheney said in response to questions about whether the Bush administration should have launched a pre-emptive attack prior to handing over the White House to Barack Obama.

"I thought that negotiations could not possibly succeed unless the Iranians really believed we were prepared to use military force," Mr. Cheney said. "And to date, of course, they are still proceeding with their nuclear program and the matter has not yet been resolved."

Mr. Cheney's views were at odds with those of other top officials at the time. Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had said repeatedly during those final months that a strike against Iran would make the Middle East more unstable and would raise the risk on American forces in neighboring Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This is a very unstable part of the world, and I don't need it to be more unstable," Adm. Mullen said in July 2008.

The Cheney interview focused mostly on Attorney General Eric Holder's naming of a special prosecutor to assess whether, during the Bush administration, Central Intelligence Agency interrogators' harsh questioning of terror suspects illegally exceeded the guidance of Justice Department lawyers.

Mr. Cheney said the legal review set a "terrible precedent" that would shatter morale at the CIA and increase the likelihood of future terror attacks. He accused President Obama of using the threat of criminal charges to score political points with the left wing of the Democratic Party.

"It's clearly a political move; there's no other rationale for them to be doing this," the former vice president said of the Obama administration review.

Mr. Cheney was particularly critical of Mr. Obama's statement that he had not influenced the attorney general's decision, and charged the president with waffling on his earlier pledge not to unearth old allegations. "I think he's trying to duck the responsibility for what's going on here, and I think it's wrong," Mr. Cheney said of the president.

The White House declined to issue a statement responding to Mr. Cheney's criticism. But an administration official, speaking anonymously, denied that Mr. Obama has been inconsistent. The new special prosecutor is only looking into cases where CIA agents allegedly went beyond the interrogation guidance given by the Bush Justice Department.

"What the president said weeks ago is that he agrees with the attorney general that those interrogators who followed the legal guidance from DOJ in good faith in conducting interrogations should not be prosecuted," the official said. "Nothing has changed in terms of that."

Mr. Cheney's comments drew sharp responses from some Democrats. "Dick Cheney has shown over the years, frankly, a disrespect for the Constitution," Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.) said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

Peter Spiegel contributed to this article.
© 2009 The Wall Street Journal
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