Dick Cheney: Omissions, Exaggerations And Misstatements”
Jonathan Landay and Warren Strobel at McClatchy went through the Cheney “Save My Legacy” speech at AEI and came up with “omissions, exaggeratons, and misstatements.” (h/t Hoffmania)
Cheney claimed that Director of National Intelligence, Adm. Dennis Blair,said that the information [obtained via torture] gave U.S. officials a “deeper understanding of the al Qaida organization that was attacking this country.”
In a statement April 21, however, Blair said the information “was valuable in some instances” but that “there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means. The bottom line is that these techniques hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security.”
A top-secret 2004 CIA inspector general’s investigation found no conclusive proof that information gained from aggressive interrogations helped thwart any “specific imminent attacks,” according to one of four top-secret Bush-era memos that the Justice Department released last month.
FBI Director Robert Mueller told Vanity Fair magazine in December that he didn’t think that the techniques disrupted any attacks.
Cheney also claimed that Obama’s release of four memos on interrogation techniques was “flatly contrary” to US national security.
However, Blair, who oversees all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies, said in his statement that he recommended the release of the memos, “strongly supported” Obama’s decision to prohibit using the controversial methods and that “we do not need these techniques to keep America safe.”
Cheney said there was no connection between interrogation techniques and abuse at Abu Ghraib and blamed abuse on “a few sadistic guards” acting on their own. A Senate Armed Services Committee report in December 2008 contradicted that.
“The abuse of detainees in U.S. custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of ‘a few bad apples’ acting on their own,” said the report issued by Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz. “The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality and authorized their use against detainees.”
Cheney blasted Obama for “the selective release” of documents on detainee policies, suggesting he purposely withheld documents that prove harsh interrogation techniques prevented attacks.
However, the decision to withhold the documents was announced by the CIA, which said that it was obliged to do so by a 2003 executive order issued by former President George W. Bush prohibiting the release of materials that are the subject of lawsuits.
Cheney slammed Obama for his decision to close Gitmo, forgetting that the effort to do so began during his administraiton.
“One of the things that would help a lot is, in the discussions that we have with the states of which they (detainees) are nationals, if we could get some of those countries to take them back,” [Secretary of State] Rice said in a Dec. 12, 2007, interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. “So we need help in closing Guantanamo.”
Mr. Cheney will have to work a bit harder, and be a bit more accurate, if he is to succeed in the “Save My Legacy Tour”.
Save my ass from a prison cell tour would be more appropiate.
More evidence of of omission, exagerration and misstatement that have become the norm for the conservative right as of late.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:18 pm
This piece should be copied and sent to everyone in the US! It should be read on every tv & radio station in the world! It should be posted at the door of every public building!
When are the Cheney Charades ever going to end!
Alan, you do do your homework & I am grateful you took the time to share this! You truly are my American talk show host hero forever!!!
Daddio Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:50 am
And it should be noted that the McClatchy new organization is also in be with the Obama administration.
It is so easy for liberals to condemn Cheney. It is amazing what hate will do to people. There still is no evidence that the any torture was approved by the Bush administration. Until the evidence is put on the table we should all hold our verdicts.
Innocent until proven guilty. That used to be an American right in my days. What ever happened to that?
OldLefty Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:01 am
Cheney has been making the same “Imminent danger from WMD that only I know about!” claims and undermining presidents since the seventies. It’s his one trick.
And from those who spared no taxpayer expense in hounding Clinton, from the day he took office, there is no credibility in the defense of Cheney…..although I agree lets have investigations.
Daddio Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:08 am
Investigations is where it should go. We should wait to hold judgement. I know how hard that must be for all you Cheney Haters.
OldLefty Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:09 am
The GOP is resisting investigations.
Daddio Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:25 am
Just as the Democrats resisted investigation under Clinton. That is just the way the game is played these days. Sad but true.
I’d say you could count the number of Congressmen/women who actually have any concern for their constituents on one hand. They are not there for you or I. They want the POWER. They will lie, cheat, and steal to get power and to keep power. Which is really what they do.
I’m including your Democrats who claim to have a halo.
OldLefty Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:37 am
But you DID get your special persecutor who spared no expense to go down blind alley after blind alley.
This call for investigation is more like when Johnson lied about the Gulf of Tonkin and he (or the party), had the decency not to run again. And with Watergate, Nixon’s own party, (who had principles back then) did not support him.
We have not seen that kind of principle over party since.
Nobody claims the Democrats have a halo, only that this particular administration was an aberration like we have never seen.
Daddio Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 7:34 pm
Correction Lefty. Johnson did not seek re-election because the tide was against him and his escalation of the Vietnam war. It had nothing to do with decency, although I am not referring that he was not a decent man. It was strickly politics. And the prospect of losing in a landslide and having his legacy tarnished.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:19 pm
Thanks, Alan, offering up a few OPINIONS. Declassify the memos, Obama could if he wanted to, and let us decide.
What impressed me yesterday about Cheney is that he said “I STILL stand behind EITs” A man that stands by his word and takes responsibility. Its called character.
From Obama we get “I could no more disown my pastor of twenty years than I could disown the black community.” We all know how that one worked out.
And James, if you really wish to understand history you might want to research the “Iraq Liberation Act of 1998″ Signed into law by Bill Clinton 17 Feb 1998. You might also wish to read the remarks he made that day.
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/02/17/transcripts/clinton.iraq/
It is this history that the left is now attempting to rewrite.
May 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Wowzer…I’m shocked. You mean he is still distorting and twisting facts like he did as vice…er I mean, co president? Wowzer. What a suprise.
Self justification of crimes committed against people. He sacrificed over four thousand lives because 3000 lives were taken. He saved us from elephant stampedes in Des Moines, Iowa. Thank God they took that action….you know, the torture stuff…because, it was so successful that they stopped it in 2005. Well, if it were so damned great, and was so lawful, why did they stop? Why did they limit it to “just a few terrorists”? Why not use it for more…especially because he said it was so instrumental in saving lives…Did our lives become less important sometime in 2005?
Nice try, toad. It is far more than a “save my legacy” tour, it is a save my ass tour…yep, save my ass from being covicted of the war crimes I committed tour…..the “I did it, but nobody laid down their life to stop me, so it was okay tour.”
Yeah, nice try….you Dick!
Bernie-in-Michigan Reply:
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:52 pm
Your name calling speaks volumes.
Robert Blair Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 1:24 am
I’m sorry for the use of “God”….
average james Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 2:37 am
Hey Robert,
Alcohol just took my sister tonight. She died a couple of hours ago.
Addiction sucks.
trees are people too Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 2:42 am
I’m sorry James…..
I wish I had something more I could say, brother I really do.
average james Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 2:44 am
Thanx Trees,
You’re a bro.
RDM Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 6:56 am
James,
So sorry about your sister; I don’t have the words.
Daddio Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:54 am
James,
My deepest sympathies to you and your family.
I’m not good with words at times like this. If it helps, my prayers are with you and your family.
Kregg Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:16 am
James said: Hey Robert, Alcohol just took my sister tonight. She died a couple of hours ago. Addiction sucks
K: James, I am sorry to hear about your sister. You and your family are in my prayers. I”m an hour away, if there’s anything I can do please let me know.
Robert Blair Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 3:33 am
Bill said that sadly, some must die for others to live. I am so sorry…and it hits home. I almost gaurantee that she would want you trudging that road you are already on….and know that she is also in the Fellowship of the Spirit…I will pray for her, and you, my fellow trudger….may she find the serenity that she was not able to find in this world.
Eric Goeke Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Average James –
I am sorry to hear that. I really am.
I know people close to me who have been taken away because of a completely legal and socially acceptable poison called alcohol.
I believe she is at peace. I don’t know what you believe but I just wanted to tell you that death is only the beginning of a much larger journey.
I guess you’ll have to take me at my word on this.
Just don’t fall into despair. Morn her but don’t ever stop pushing forward.
I’ll say a prayer for her.
average james Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Thanx all,
It’s been a long night, and day. I really do appreciate all of your sentiments.
Pamela Jane Moore…..10-30-59—5-22-09.
Robert Blair Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Aj,
If you need or want to talk, my email is piratesplundermall@hotmail.com
libpatriot Reply:
May 24th, 2009 at 1:21 am
Average James, you come across as a really good person and I’m sorry to hear you and your loved ones are suffering so heavily now. Power to you towards your keeping forward on your path to Victory. You’re in my prayers.
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Dear Mr. Cheney: dry up and blow away.
Daddio Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 8:56 am
Rocky ‘I’d love to live under a dictatorship’ the Liberal. How ya doing?
I get a kick out of your posts.
libpatriot Reply:
May 24th, 2009 at 3:20 am
Daddio/Willy’s right about one thing, Rocky: your posts are very entertaining! It was fun to click on your name and read a lot of them together, as they’re all short and snappy, but NEVER short on attitude. Keep them coming!
May 22nd, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Have we forgotten what “Cheney” stands for?
His “Salute” on the Senate floor to Senator Leahy who was questioning Cheney’s OBSCENE/ILLEGAL no-bid contracts to Halliburton!!!
Go “Cheney Yourself!”
Cheney is pooping big turds of his non-existent legacy.
His only straight daughter can’t save him.
He’s CHENEY’d!!!
libpatriot Reply:
May 25th, 2009 at 1:33 am
…And may all your prophecies come to pass, 4MoreYears.
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:25 am
Dick Cheney’s “We Used Enhanced Interrogation Techniques Because They Worked” tour continues. In an interview on Sunday, May 10th, on “Face the Nation”, he told host Bob Schieffer that the Obama Administration’s stance on enhanced interrogation techniques is “deeply disturbing.” President Obama has repeatedly said that “the United States of America does not torture.” Cheney takes great care not to use the word torture. That’s because he doesn’t consider some forms of torture such as waterboarding to actually be torture. Cheney said techniques such as waterboarding were successful, citing Khalid Shaikh Mohhammed, who “provided vast quantities of information about al Qaeda” after being waterboarded. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded six times a day for a month, admitted to: taking steroids, stealing sugar packets from Starbucks, driving a motorcycle without a helmet, being a witch, lying about getting a degree in economics from Cornell, and bowling without regulation bowling shoes.
Eric Goeke Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Yup.
And if you grab someone off the street who never heard of al Qaeda or the Taliban and starting torturing them they would explain it you how they run the Taliban from their cell phone and laptop. They would tell you they just saw Osama bin Laden and they have his GPS location … all you have to do is stop torturing them and they’ll give it to you.
“Cheney takes great care not to use the word torture. That’s because he doesn’t consider some forms of torture such as waterboarding to actually be torture”
Yes well … whatever Cheney ‘considers’ to be torture is actually totally irrelevant.
Waterboarding is cruel and unusual punishment and the ‘views’ of a former-VP on this are not important nor a factor in his hopeful sentencing.
The fact remains that torture was committed under the Bush regime and Cheney was the spearhead of this torture program.
The GOP degrades it’s place in history and in American politics by standing up for communist torture tactics and frankly I’m waiting for a return in the days of segregation and slavery under this style of mentality.
This is disgusting, unamerican, ungodly and purely evil thinking that spawned this ‘enhanced interrogation program.’
Fear is no excuse. The guilty pay. There can be no justice in an America that tortures. There can be no justice in a nation that allows Cheney to avoid trial.
May 23rd, 2009 at 1:24 am
Alan said: Mr. Cheney will have to work a bit harder, and be a bit more accurate, if he is to succeed in the “Save My Legacy Tour”.
K; Alan, you pit Mr. Cheney’s opinion against the opinions of others, then declare Cheney’s opinions to be wrong because they differ with the others’ opinions. How does this make Cheney wrong?
Daddio Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:30 am
That is what I have been trying to figure out here Kregg.
I guess if you are liberal, then the only opinion you dismiss as not valid is those of conservatives, or in this case Cheney.
McClatchy is a very left wing news organization. Alan tends to forget to mention such things.
TDro319 Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Cheney has been lying to the American people for year! We should beleve him now? He’s still fear mongering (it’s his “be afraid, be very afraid” revival tour from 2003) and of course we have lemmings like Daddio and Kregg who hang on the Dick’s every word like the gospel truth.
Eric Goeke Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 6:03 pm
“I guess if you are liberal, then the only opinion you dismiss as not valid is those of conservatives, or in this case Cheney.”
It’s very easy to say that, Daddio. But you forget that many liberals do indeed call conservative shows and get hung up on, talked down to and screamed at for simply sharing another perspective on Obama or border policy or whatever the issue is.
Both sides do this. It’s called partisanship.
If you hate it so much then start destroying it in yourself first and then move on to the rest of the world.
Rest assured, if you are trying to bring people together and not apart you will find a thousand strong of your fellow Americans standing behind you.
You only want to point the finger alone and never take responsibility for anything we will abandon just as quickly.
Kregg Reply:
May 24th, 2009 at 12:11 am
My hometown paper is a McClatchy rag. Its also going bankrupt.
OldLefty Reply:
May 24th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Daddio,
Why do you call McClatchy “very left wing news organization”, just because their facts differed from those of the Bush administration?
McClatchy, (formerly Knight Ridder) were the only one who were right all along, while the NYT were printing what Scooter Libby told Judith Miller as though it were fact.
When former U.N. chief weapons inspector David Kay told the Senate Armed Services Committee in January 2004, “We were all wrong,” McClatchy was the exception.
Just because the administration that came into the Whitehouse wanting to invade Iraq, said 2 + 2 = 16 while others say that 2+ 2 = 0, and MSM reports 90% of what the administration says, does not mean that the outlet which reports that 2 + 2 = 4, is biased.
Robert Blair Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:04 am
Facts that are contrary to the statements made by someone tend to discredit their arguements. Self serving deprication of events, previously discredited declarations, and emotion clouding 28 references to 9/11 within nonsequiter logic streams does nothing for people to alter their previously accurate perceptions.
Robert Blair Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:05 am
excuse me, “do nothing” rather than, “does nothing”….my eror.
Robert Blair Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 10:06 am
“eror” was on purpose LOL
Eric Goeke Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 5:58 pm
“you pit Mr. Cheney’s opinion against the opinions of others, then declare Cheney’s opinions to be wrong because they differ with the others’ opinions. How does this make Cheney wrong?”
Well how else is one to determine the validity of an argument?
I am open to ideas on this one.
I can’t think of any way except to compare statements made to logical deduction, fact comparison and review of other arguments from people of similar positions and credibility.
Personally, I think there isn’t, and never was, any argument that is in favor or torture that isn’t demonic, Satanic and ungodly.
But that’s just a filthy liberal’s opinion. As I recall we all decided to hate each other and destroy this nation in endless internal conflict instead of being a glorious nation of free peoples.
Kregg Reply:
May 24th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Eric said: Well how else is one to determine the validity of an argument?I am open to ideas on this one.
K; Eric, opinions are not facts – but peoples’ personal interpretation of facts. You cannot rightfully determine that Cheney’s opinion is wrong based on others’ opinions because those others may be just as wrong as you figure Cheney to be. If Alan can provide hard facts that Cheney has lied about thats one thing but it is completely another to accuse him of lying simply because someone else held a different opinion about that fact than did Cheney.
May 23rd, 2009 at 9:26 am
Cheney sounds just like the 15 min. monologue of
Sean Hannity.
Sounds bites
Snippets
Lies
libpatriot Reply:
May 25th, 2009 at 1:35 am
But what else is new?
libpatriot Reply:
May 25th, 2009 at 1:38 am
At least YOUR snippets are of truth, Pierre.
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Stop Foxy News!!
Their new talking point is that Obama is just like
Cheney/Bush because Obama is adapting the same policies
as the Bushes.
Do they any other way to promote the Bush legacy?
And they are complaining that NBC is bed with Obama.
Fox news DISTORT and we must RETRACT.
pierre Reply:
May 23rd, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Do they have any other way to promote the Bush legacy?
May 23rd, 2009 at 4:56 pm
“A top-secret 2004 CIA inspector general’s investigation found no conclusive proof that information gained from aggressive interrogations helped thwart any “specific imminent attacks,” according to one of four top-secret Bush-era memos that the Justice Department released last month”
How much evidence do Cheneyites need to realize they support communist torture tactics?
Do I have to sit and watch the Christopher Hitchens video done by Vanity Fair where he gets waterboarded with every neo-con in existence?
DO I NEED TO WATERBOARD THEM MYSELF AFTER THEY REFUTE THE VIDEO?
May 23rd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
Perhaps Mr. Cheney should make a physician appointment to be screened for vascular dementia….he certainly is showing the symptoms.
pierre Reply:
May 24th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
No , his case is terminal.
May 24th, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Abu Ghraib is now reopened under Iraqi control. Think they stopped waterboarding? [FAT CHANCE} !
May 24th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
We’ve got all the proof we need for this torture case, he’s actually still doing it, to all of the world. Stop torturing us, Dick.
May 26th, 2009 at 1:56 am