Cheney: A Lesson in Hypocrisy - Valentines Day Edition

This morning, Dick Cheney once again exhibited breathtaking hypocrisy and convoluted logic to justify attacking the Obama Administration on foreign policy. Cheney repeated his debunked claim that the Obama Administration does not recognize that the United States is "at war" with Al Qaeda, when the President has repeatedly declared we are. The former Vice President also used bizarre logic to assert that the Bush Administration mirandizing Richard Reid was different than Abdulmutallab because Reid later plead guilty - a ludicrous differentiation as it happened well after the fact. Cheney also claimed that waterboarding should have been left open as an option to use on Abdulmutallab, despite the fact that he is giving up information without the United States resorting to torture. But Cheney conceded that he was just as isolated in his opinions regarding torture when the Bush Administration debated it. Just as he was wrong and out of touch then, he remains so now.

Some of Cheney's Outrageous Claims This Morning

• Cheney Claimed the Obama Administration Was Slow to Recognize That “We Are at War”
• Cheney Rationalized Mirandizing Reid…Because He Eventually Plead Guilty
• Cheney Said Waterboarding Should Have Been Left Open as an Option on Abdulmutallab
• Cheney Conceded That Even In The Bush Administration, Most People Didn't Agree With Him On Torture And That He Was A Lone Wolf

Cheney Claimed the Administration Was Slow to Recognize That “We Are at War”

Cheney: What the administration was slow to do was to come to that recognition that we are at war, not dealing with criminal acts. [ABC This Week, 2/14/10]

Obama: “We are At War.” “Over the past two weeks, we've been reminded again of the challenge we face in protecting our country against a foe that is bent on our destruction. And while passions and politics can often obscure the hard work before us, let's be clear about what this moment demands. We are at war. We are at war against al Qaeda, a far-reaching network of violence and hatred that attacked us on 9/11, that killed nearly 3,000 innocent people, and that is plotting to strike us again. And we will do whatever it takes to defeat them.” [Obama Speech, 1/7/10]

Cheney Rationalized Mirandizing Reid…Because He Eventually Plead Guilty

Wallace: Was it a mistake when your administration, took on the Richard Reid case. This is similar. Somebody trying blow up an airliner with a shoe bomb. He was within five minutes getting taken off that plane, read his Miranda rights, and tried through the civilian system. Was that a mistake?

Cheney: He was not tried. He pled guilty. They never did have a trial. Secondly, when this came up, as I recall, it was December of '01. We were not yet operational with the military commissions. Had not yet had the Supreme Court rulings handed down.

Wallace: You still had the option to put him into military custody?

Cheney: We could have. i don't question that. The point is, in this particular case, all of that was not worked out primarily because he pled guilty. [ABC This Week, 2/14/10]




Cheney Said Waterboarding Should Have Been Left Open as an Option on Abdulmutallab

Wallace: If you have somebody in custody like Abdulmutallab, you think he's got information on coming attacks, should the enhanced interrogation techniques been employed?

Cheney: I think the professionals need to make that decision. We had people in our administration who are experts. Many of them are probably still there. They are the ones you ought to turn someone like Abdulmutallab over to. Let them be the judge with whether he's prepared to cooperate and how they can best achieve his cooperation.

Wallace: You believe they should have had everything up to and including waterboarding?

Cheney: I think you should have everything on the table. President Obama has taken them off the table. I think that's a mistake. [ABC This Week, 2/14/10]

ABDULMUTALLAB IS COOPERATING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES AND PROVIDING INTELLIGENCE

New York Times: “Official Says Terrorism Suspect Is Cooperating.” “Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man accused of trying to blow up a jetliner bound for Detroit on Dec. 25, started talking to investigators after two of his family members arrived in the United States and helped earn his cooperation, a senior administration official said Tuesday evening. Mr Abdulmutallab, 23, began speaking to F.B.I. agents last week in Detroit and has not stopped, two government officials said. The officials declined to disclose what information was obtained from him, but said it was aiding in the investigation of the attempted terrorist attack. ‘With the family, the F.B.I. approached the suspect,’ the senior administration official said, speaking to reporters at the White House on the condition of anonymity because of the pending legal case. ‘He has been cooperating for days.’ The cooperation was first disclosed during a Congressional hearing on Tuesday, as the suspect’s interrogation became the subject of an intense political debate over whether he initially stopped providing information after he was read his Miranda rights and received a lawyer.” [New York Times, 2/2/10]

Senior Administration Official: Abdulmuttalab Has Been Cooperating With Authorities And Sharing Intelligence And His Family Has Been “Instrumental In Gaining Mr. Abdulmuttalab’s Cooperation.” “The family of the failed Christmas Day bomber, Umar Farouq Abdulmuttalab, played a pivotal role in getting their son to start cooperating with federal authorities in sharing information about Al Qaeda, a senior administration official said Tuesday evening. Abdulmuttalab has been cooperating with authorities and sharing intelligence since last Thursday, another administration official told ABC News. The family was ‘instrumental in gaining Mr. Abdulmuttalab’s cooperation,’ said the senior administration official. The information Abdulmuttalab is sharing has been described by other officials as fresh and actionable. ‘It has been very successful,’ the official said, ‘as far as gaining his cooperation that will allow us then to follow up on that information.’ He said the intelligence gained ‘has been disseminated throughout the intelligence community.’” [ABC News, 2/2/10]

Abdulmuttalab Was Talking To FBI Agents At The Same Time That Republicans Were Slamming His Presence In The Criminal Justice System. “Abdulmuttalab was talking to FBI agents on Saturday, at the same time Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, ranking Republican on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, issued the Republican response to the president's weekly address, decrying Abdulmuttalab's presence in the criminal justice system. Collins is just one of many critics questioning why Abdulmuttalab was read his Miranda rights under the criminal justice system instead of being interrogated under military rules. ‘There is a reason why these things are done the way they are done and believe me it frustrated the hell out of me to listen to a lot of the comments being made that were criticizing this process,’ the official said. ‘But the premium that this White House – that this president puts on these operations – is to make sure that we do everything possible to protect the American people.’” [ABC News, 2/2/10]

FBI Director Mueller: Mirandizing Abdulmutallab Did Not Prevent Obtainment Of Useful Intelligence. Yesterday, FBI Director Robert Mueller confirmed that federal agents have been successful in obtaining intelligence from Abdulmutallab: "It is a continuum in which over a period of time, we have been successful in obtaining intelligence, not just on day 1, but on day 2, day 3 day 4 and day 5 down the road." [Robert Mueller, via Adam Serwer, 2/03/10]

Officials With Access To Abdulmutallab: Putting Bomber In Front Of Military Would Have Foreclosed Further Cooperation. The same administration official told ABC that "Those who had access to Abdulmuttalab concluded that 'putting him in front of somebody with a military uniform would have made him even more opposed to any type of cooperation.'" [ABC News,2/02/10]

Cheney Conceded That Even In The Bush Administration, Most People Didn't Agree With Him On Torture And That He Was A Lone Wolf

Wallace: On the question of trying, or dealing with the enemy combatants. I came across this, a document put out by the bush justice department by attorney general Ashcroft. If you go to page one, they out the criminal wos cushions, saying that the department has brought charges against 375 and convicted 195 to date. That was 2005. It seems to make the administration's point that they're not doing it all that differently than you did.

Cheney: We didn't all agree with that. I remember meeting in the Roosevelt room where we had a major shootout to how this was going to be handled. A lot of us wanted to treat it as an intelligence matter, an act of war. We never thoroughly or totally resolved those issues. These are tough questions. You want my opinion of what ought to happen? I think we have to treat it as a war. This is a strategic threat to the United States. I think that's why we were successful for 7 1/2 years for avoiding threats to the United States. I get upset when that's the dominant approach. As it was at times in the bush administration and as it appears to be, at times, in the Obama administration.

Wallace: Did you more often win or lose those battles?

Cheney: I suppose it depends on what once you're talking about.

Wallace: Water boarding?

Cheney: I was a supporter of that.

Wallace: You oppose doing away with water boarding?

Cheney: Yes. [ABC This Week, 2/14/10]