A secret recording has surfaced of Vice President Dick Cheney speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition where he held forth on various subjects — assuming that the session was closed to the public and press. Cheney appears to be intent on, again, revising history to get people to embrace a security state. You may recall how Cheney (who is often cited as a potential defendant in a torture prosecution) publicly assuring the nation that the Bush torture program produced valuable intelligence. That assertion has been previously dismissed by experts and insiders. However, as we discussed recently, the forthcoming Senate Report goes into great deal to show that not only is that assertion untrue but that the CIA actively sought to hide the fact that the torture program produced insignificant intelligence (and that detainees were tortured despite their cooperation in conventional interrogations). Cheney is now fighting to defend the massive surveillance of citizens — again dismissing even the concessions of intelligence officials about abuses and violations under the program. Cheney told a rapturous crowd that all such accounts were “hogwash.” He further pumped the crowd with support for an attack on Iran to add yet another war to our current international conflicts.
In his March 29th remarks, Cheney insisted that suggestions “That we have created in the National Security Agency this monster bureaucracy that’s reading everybody’s mail, listening to everybody’s phone calls, infringing upon our civil liberties and civil rights — hogwash.” He then adds the assertion that, if we had only embraced massive surveillance previously, “It probably would’ve allowed us to stop 9/11.”
It is a signature moment for Cheney. Once again, when confronted with the creation of a security state and mass surveillance, he plays the 9-11 card. There has never been any suggestion that the program would have prevented 9-11. More importantly, Cheney seems to be forgetting the findings of virtually every investigation of 9-11 that the CIA and FBI could have prevented the attacks with existing powers. Intelligence officials failed to share information and use existing powers to prevent the attack despite various indications that the attack was coming. Of course those findings do not play as well for expanding the powers and budgets of those very same agencies. Instead, citizens are asked to embrace torture, kill lists, and massive surveillance if they want to avoid an attack.
For many outside of this country, the very fact that Cheney has not been prosecuted for his role in the torture program is a consistent reminder of the failure of the country to fulfilled its obligations under existing treaties, as reflected by the recent U.N. report (only the latest such UN criticism). Cheney is a fascinating study of how some citizens and leaders seem to have an overwhelming inclination toward authoritarian power (not just to wield it but to be subject to it). It could not be more disconnected with the views and values of the Framers who deeply distrusted government powers and foreign entanglements. Even in the face of reports and statements from intelligence officials to the contrary, Cheney continues to deny reality in support of near absolute powers in the president. It is hard to tell if he truly believes these accounts or simply seeks to sustain a rivaling narrative. Either way, it increasingly appears so disconnected from reality as to be doublespeak, or even delusional, for Cheney.
Source: Yahoo
Nick,
I love you!
… When you come down from you PC high horse.
9/11 Not an “Intelligence Failure”
Guest,
Bill Clinton wasn’t in office the 9 months leading up to 9/11.
I guess the question is, Why did Bush dismiss the Clinton Admin’s warnings for the next 9 months after inauguration?
Wait a minute here, Hillary served on the battlefields of Wellsley and Yale!! She screamed “Baby killers” @ soldiers coming home.
Well, Randyjet,
This is where the filter scrubs out Hillary Clinton’s shilling as Senator.
I posted the vid TWICE, both times scrubbed.
I’ll let you google it.
HAWK, HAWK, HAWKING her wares…
… How long did she serve and in what unit?
Wayne, impressive work there! Thanks!
The Bush Admin allowed 9/11 to happen…
What Jill said.
Former Vice President Palpatine needs to be prosecuted for war crimes, not promote more war for Halliburton.
Reblogged this on just4craig.
Those were tough years to be serving!
Wayne, Thank you for your service.
MikeA, Wise words. But, “Haters gotta hate.”
How many more politicians are there that share Cheney’s worldview that will potentially run for President or hold seats in the House and Senate, the Supreme Court?
We trivialize the issue by arguing over “blaming the president.” Our nation engaged in war crimes. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and a host of others, including lawyers, participated in the planning and execution of those crimes. Obama has ratified those actions through his refusal to investigate and prosecute, as well as by his continuation of some of the more abhorrent practices of his predecessor. We have failed the rule of law and the duty of moral leadership. It’s no more complicated than that.
Very good–and very important point Mr. Natural. But, anytime Cheney is referenced for anything, there exists a responsibility to discount him as a credible point of reference. People should not take his statements as a point to view on which to act on any situation in the world.
Why are you arguing about 9/11? Here’s the real takeaway from Turley:
“Cheney is a fascinating study of how some citizens and leaders seem to have an overwhelming inclination toward authoritarian power (not just to wield it but to be subject to it). It could not be more disconnected with the views and values of the Framers who deeply distrusted government powers and foreign entanglements.”
Speaking as someone who voted for Obama (like there was a choice) he has done nothing to rolling back or repudiate these powers. Signing statements and executive orders continue flying out of the Oval Office and into secret archives, just like the bad old days when Dubya did exactly the same thing.
For those of you who don’t care because you imagine uninterrupted Democratic hegemony into the forseeable future, because populations of Latinos will “naturally” vote Democratic, that’s obvious nonsense. Republicans will change over time, Latinos will turn into Republicans just to get a shot at the political gigs. And the executive powers will end up in the hands of the party you revile.
First, echelon was in place, doing just about everything that NSA is doing now. So mass spying did not stop 9/11. Even 5 CIA presidential briefings filled with explicit warnings did not stop 9/11. All kinds of information from the FBI, NSA and CIA was sent to Bush and Cheney. They are the ones who short stopped the information.
I don’t understand why people are still eager to listen to someone who is clearly lying to them. There is something bizarre about giving credence to people who you know aren’t telling the truth. There is something even more bizarre in supporting people who authorize torture. That applies to Bush, Cheney and Obama supporters.
I can’t believe anyone could defend those two. And will we ever know anything about the truth of 9/11?? Aren’t there, like 27,000 words redacted from the report? Not to mention hanging out with Bandar shortly before?? There’s way more to this story than we’ll ever know. They would love us to believe that “them bad guys rode into town and shot up our buildings.” I think Cheney thought the torture was fun and that’s why he is for it.
Also Wayne, you forgot to mention the democrats that did not serve. You should do something productive with your time and gather some important facts instead of filling your mind with partisan trash.