Cheney: 'We're going to get it done' in Iraq

[leftchick]

http://msnbc.msn.com/ID/6672408/


NBC News joined the vice president for his whirlwind, 53-hour trip to Afghanistan. And, at Bagram, Mr. Cheney sat with NBC for an exclusive interview.

<snip>

Gregory: Is it realistic in the near term or even the medium term for the United States to relinquish its role as the primary stick in this part of the world in Afghanistan?

Vice President Cheney: I don't think of it in terms of the calendar. We'll stay as long as it takes for us to complete the mission. Think about where we've come from. I mean, you had thousands of terrorists — one estimate said 20,000 terrorists in the late 1990s — trained at training camps here in Afghanistan. You had safe haven here for Osama bin Laden and all of his top people.


Gregory: What role do you think Osama bin Laden plays within al-Qaida right now?

Vice President Cheney: It's difficult to say. I guess if I would characterize it, I think he's still very much an important figurehead for the al-Qaida organization. This is an ongoing conflict and it's also important, keep in mind, if we get Osama bin Laden tomorrow the war is not over.

Gregory: I'd like to ask you if I could, a little bit about Iraq, which has its own date with history next month. Critics are saying that one of the reasons why there is a lack of stability now is because this administration has consistently underestimated the strength of the insurgency. Not true?

Vice President Cheney: Not true. If you look at the provinces in Iraq, you got three provinces where there are serious problems in terms of the security situation. Most of the rest of the country is in relatively good shape. But holding those elections is crucial. You do not want to reward the insurgents or the terrorists by letting them delay the elections — that's called terrorists win.

.... many more lies in the interview... :puke:



Afghan President Hamid Karzai, right, talks with U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney during a press conference at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, today after Karzai's inauguration. AP Photo

[YDogg]

1. Not in his lifetime ...

... I imagine, so what does he care?

[rodeodance]

4. Gregory was so happy to get an interview with the VP -he asked

weak questions!!!!

[Arkana]

2. What a dumb fuck...he's almost as stupid as Dubya

"You do not want to reward the insurgents or the terrorists by letting them delay the elections — that's called terrorists win."

Seems like everything contrary to his wishes is "helping the terrorists win" these days. Con-VEE-nient, ain't it, Dick?

[YDogg]

3. David Gregory ...

... asked him immediately (something to the effect of) "Isn't that what happened here in Afghanistan?"

dick had a smarmy answer quickly enough, but kudos to Gregory for at least trying to call his shizzit shizzit.

[DoBotherMe]

5. So where did the 20,000 terrorists go?

And where is enemy number one?

[leftchick]

7. exactly....

and the 100,000 or so created by the invasion and occupation of Iraq. It is always opposite day for these neo-cons.

[DoBotherMe]

10. I have a physical reaction when I read

the cabal's statements. What's it called ... obsfucation, double speak, LYING? They never complete the picture. So where are the 20,000 terrorists? Have they gone home? Have they embraced the Afghan democracy and are they ready to be good little capitalists? Have we a Marshall Plan in place? Are the NGOs returning? Always with the lies. D ; )

[stepnw1f]

6. Have a Heart Attack Already (nt)

[TexasChick]

9. LOL! Oh, man, now that is just wrong! LOL!

[Swamp Rat]

8. Everytime Cheney opens his mouth the terrorists win.

Cheney is helping the terrorists win.

Cheney = Terrorists win.

[Barrett808]

11. Cheney repeats the Allawi lie -- here's Juan Cole's 9/24 map to prove it

...Allawi minimized the violence, saying that it was confined to 3 of Iraq's 18 provinces. This assertion is simply untrue, and is anyway misleading because Baghdad is one of the three Allawi had in mind! Could an election that excluded the capital, with at least 5 million inhabitants, be considered valid? Denis D. Gray of AP notes:

"However, at least six provinces - Baghdad, Anbar, Diyala, Salahuddin, Kirkuk and Nineveh - have been the scene of significant attacks on U.S. troops and Iraqi authorities in the past month. The only areas not plagued by bloodshed are the three northern provinces controlled by Kurds. The situation in many areas, however, is unknown since journalists' travel is restricted by security fears."

(Why is it that only print journalists, and increasingly not television ones, challenge such disinformation from politicians any more?)

The situation is even worse than Gray allows. As recently as August, the British expended 100,000 rounds of ammunition in Maysan province at Amara, saying they had the most intense fighting since the Korean War! Likewise there was heavy fighting in Wasit (Kut) and Najaf. In the map below I made the present security-challenged provinces red, and those that saw recent heavy fighting purple. I ask you if this looks like the problems are in "3 of 18 provinces," or whether it looks to you like elections held only in the white areas (as Donald Rumsfeld seems to envision) would produce a legitimate government:



The Allawi/ Rumsfeld logic, moreover, presumes that the guerrilla resistance is only able to disrupt the elections in the Sunni Arab provinces. But they have repeatedly demonstrated an ability to strike all over the country. If a long line of prospective voters were standing in Nasiriyah in the south, do you seriously think the guerrillas couldn't manage to direct some rocket-propelled grenade fire at them? Set off a car bomb?

(more)

http://www.juancole.com/2004_09_01_juancole_archive.html

[Journeyman]

12. If you have to make such an assertion. . .

there's no conceivable way it can be a success. Success is its own argument.

[teryang]

13. Cha ching, cha ching

Chevron, no Halliburton, Chevron, no Halliburton...

[llmart]

14. "We're going to get it done".....

What's with the "we" shit anyway, you lying, cowardly, yellow-bellied crook? You had other priorities when your country needed you during war time.

I can't stand these m*****f******!

[Dr Fate]

15. "We?" Are you sending YOUR family members over there, Dick?

If not, then cut the "we" shit.

You menat to say "those other people" are going to get it done, didnt you?

[Just Me]

16. Dick! They don't hate our freedoms they hate our policies,...

,...that is, your arms-dealin' oil-diggin' power-mongering policies.

Of course, since you guys have our blood and treasure at your disposal, your policies are going to be fully implemented, huh.

:nuke: