Joe Conason: Last Throes of Cheney’s Credibility (Truthdig)

[marmar]

Last Throes of Cheney’s Credibility

Posted on Mar 1, 2007
By Joe Conason

Americans frustrated with the Democratic congressional leaders for dithering over Iraq should never forget who actually drove us into the Iraqi quagmire. Even those Democrats who voted for the president’s war resolution in 2002 did so only after the president repeatedly promised—with the deepest insincerity—that he would invade Iraq only as a “last resort.”

Responsibility for that lie and many others rests squarely with George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, who have spent nearly four years, thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars to create catastrophe. Today every policy alternative, including a phased withdrawal, is likely to impose costly consequences on us, on the Iraqis and on the world.

So perhaps the Democrats deserve more than a month or two to determine how best to extricate our troops from that complex and perilous trap.

Besides, Bush and Cheney have declared that they’ll ignore any congressional action that would cut short their bloody misadventure. Rather than engage in honest debate over a saner course in Iraq, the vice president has resorted to the same discredited rhetoric used by him and his allies from the beginning.

Seeking to intimidate the congressional leaders last week, he recited the misleading old formula conflating war in Iraq with the struggle against al-Qaida. That theory has been blown up with the same force and frequency as the daily explosions on Baghdad’s streets. Only days ago, the Pentagon inspector general issued a devastating report describing how Cheney’s agents in the Defense Department distorted intelligence to “prove” the mythical linkage between Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070301_last_throes_of_cheneys_credibility/

[illinoisprogressive]

1. he was on Washington Journal this morning and drove the wingers batty.

[marmar]

2. I listened to that.....

One particularly odious woman attacked Conason as "disgraceful" and then attacked Rob for being pro-Dem and accused him of cutting off Repug calls. :crazy: