Did Dick Cheney want to start a war with Russia?

[sabra]

Source: FT/Gideon Rachman

Yesterday morning I went to a journalists’ breakfast in London with Mikheil Saakashvili, the president of Georgia. The last time I spoke to Saakashvili was for a “lunch with the FT” in April, 2008. A few months later, in August 2008, his country was briefly invaded by Russia - and something like 20% of Georgian territory remains under Russian occupation. So it was understandable that the Georgian president seemed a little more careworn and less ebullient than when I last met him.

...

Exactly what happened in August, 2008, remains a subject of bitter dispute. So I have greatly enjoyed reading the painstaking reconstruction of events, by Ron Asmus, in a recently published book called, “A Little War that Shook the World” (Palgrave Macmillan). Asmus’s sympathies clearly lie strongly with the Georgian side. But his research seems to be impeccable.

For me, the most fascinating revelation in the book comes on p.186, where Asmus appears to reveal that Vice-President Dick Cheney was pressing for the US to bomb Russia’s invading troops in Georgia.

Asmus doesn’t quite spell it out. But the key passages clearly point in that direction. He writes that the White House considered “limited military options to stem the Russian advance”, including “the possibility of bombardment and the sealing of the Roki Tunnel as well as other surgical strikes to reduce Russian military pressure.”

He also writes that there was a disagreement between Steve Hadley, George W. Bush’s National Security Adviser and Dick Cheney, the vice-president. Hadley “thought Russia was focused only on Georgia”, while “Cheney had a different and harder-edged view of Moscow’s goals.” Asmus adds - “Both Hadley and Cheney’s staff had also considered the question of considering limited military options. Hadley had pushed them to think hard about the consequences of any proposed military steps…He was convinced they would lead quickly to a US-Russia military confrontation. But he concluded that is was necessary for Bush to know what his closest advisers, Cheney in particular, thought and for the president to have an open discussion with his key cabinet members …on whether the United States should consider using its military power to help the Georgians.”

...

So there it is. Asmus doesn’t explicitly say that Cheney was in favour of bombing - but that seems to be the implication to me. And certainly, when I discussed Asmus’s book with President Saakashvili yesterday, that is also how he read the account of the White House’s deliberations.

Read more: http://blogs.ft.com/rachmanblog/2010/02/did-dick-cheney-want-to-start-a-war-with-russia/

[onehandle]

1. Yes. I only read the subject line. A definitive, yes. nt

[RaleighNCDUer]

2. I've always thought so. Why else would Pres. Cheney appoint an expert

in Soviet affairs Secretary of State fifteen years AFTER there was no more Soviet Union.

His whole administration was stuck in the cold war.

[Mz Pip]

3. Russia

Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan; probably fantasizes about Cuba and Venezuela, too.

Pick a country that isn't a "democracy" and Cheney probably would like to start a war with it. Except Saudi Arabia. THose thugs seem to get free passes no matter what they do.

[denverbill]

5. The ultimate chickenhawk. n/t

[benld74]

4. 5 DEFERRMENT CHENEY ?????

[movonne]

6. This man is one sick puppy....and I see his daughter following in

his footsteps...killing and torture..

[classysassy]

7. The Chaneys

They are pure evil.

[Tabasco_Dave]

8. If evil Dick got his way this would be our non-future

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2H1E02iMHg

[old mark]

9. I think Cheney wants to start a war with anyone he possibly can.

It really is a great way to distract attention from the terrible neglect and corruption his regime (W)were allowing here in the US.
Wars also traditionally were good for the economy, but Bush somehow managed to get that wrong, too.

mark

[Phx_Dem]

10. Better question would be who doesn't Cheney want to start a war with?

[supernova]

12. Beat me to it.

Dick's all about the war.

[Kyril Enko]

11. something like 20% of Georgian territory remains under Russian occupation.

But doesn't that merely comprise South Ossetia and Abakazhia (spellcheck), who wanted out of Georgia anyway?

[boppers]

16. Yeah, South Ossetia declared independence back in 1990.

It's also the location of the aforementioned tunnel... this is another example of super powers taking sides in a civil war.

[Sebastian Doyle]

13. Dick Cheney would start a war with God Himself if he knew where to aim the bombers

Fucking bastard.

[Kyril Enko]

14. Cheney's ALREADY at war with God!

After all, that's his job as Satan!

[Zoeisright]

15. Dickless Cheney wants to start wars with everybody.

As long as he and his family don't have to fight it. He gets off on death, torture, and destruction. I'd bet his bedroom is filled with tapes of torture and he sits there and jacks off to it.