The lapdog has finally broken free from his leash. On the heels of mounting pressure from within his own parliament, outgoing Prime Minister Tony Blair announced last Wednesday that Great Britain will withdraw up to 1,600 of its 7,100 remaining soldiers from Iraq in the coming weeks, with an additional 3,000 set to leave by the end of the year.
News of the withdrawal comes as the United States prepares to add 21,500 troops to its force in Iraq, amid growing disapproval for President Bush and his handling of the Iraq War. So of course, no one is more excited than Dick Cheney.
“I look at it and see it is actually an affirmation that there are parts of Iraq where things are going pretty well,” the vice president told ABC’s Jonathan Karl in an interview. “I talked to a friend just the other day who had driven to Baghdad down to Basra, seven hours, found the situation dramatically improved from a year or so ago, sort of validated the British view they had made progress in Southern Iraq and that they can therefore reduce their force levels.”
Damn! He’s done it again! A true maestro of the spoken word; he even managed to throw in a personal story for emotional effect. Still, this one seems a little flimsy. And if my memory/internet access serves me correctly, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s made a comment like this, reflecting a deep and profound isolation from reality. Case in point:
March 16, 2003: Cheney tells NBC’s Tim Russert on Meet the Press, “From the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators.”
May 30, 2005: Cheney tells CNN’s Larry King, “The level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think, will clearly decline. I think they’re in the last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.” Yep. Seems like he can pretty much be counted on doing this every other year, usually in the late winter or early spring. Maybe it’s allergies.
Both quotes have been repeated by the media and pointed to by critics of the war, as they appear demonstrative of the Bush administration’s failure to deliver on promises made before the occupation of Iraq. Now this new sound byte is making the rounds, and it might just take the cake for outlandishness.
Let’s look at some numbers (apologies to those of you who find numbers distressing): About 140,000 members of the United States Military are currently deployed in Iraq – 91 percent of all coalition forces. Great Britain, with its 7,100 troops, accounts for 5 percent of all coalition forces. The remaining 4 percent is made up of 19 countries, ranging from South Korea’s 2,300 peacekeeping (or not fighting) troops to Moldova’s 11.
So it’s easy to see why Britain’s decision to begin withdrawing troops is a good thing. Right? Anyone? It looks like Mr. Cheney may be trying to pull another fast one on us.
The most frightening thing about Dick Cheney is how smart he is. Nearly 40 years in Washington have shaped him into a seasoned political veteran. He has formidable connections in the defense and intelligence branches of the federal government, calling ex-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and former President/CIA Director George Bush Sr. B.F.Fs. Halliburton’s defense contracts guaranteed him a retirement filled with private jets and golf trips, as his net worth is estimated in the tens of millions.
But these stellar credentials merely cloak an ulterior motive; his agenda – one part profit, one part misdirected display of military might – has undermined confidence in the United States’ leadership throughout the world. If the British were serious about continuing the war effort in Iraq, those troops would be sent north to Baghdad, where sectarian violence is at its fiercest. But they’re not, so instead they’ll head to Afghanistan, where they can take part in a war that may still be salvageable.
Which leaves our vice president at the twilight of his career, saying things even he knows aren’t true. Public opinion has drifted dangerously astray from him and his administration. The people are fed up with misleading rhetoric and false promises. The people have realized he doesn’t know dick.
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