Cheney Trashes Obama On Terror Trial, Afghanistan

Some retirees kill time between Canasta games by moping around the house feeling sorry for themselves, but not former Vice President Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney. He swung by the Fox News clubhouse yesterday with some words of wisdom for our current President, calling his decision to let alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed go on trial in New York a "huge mistake." Obama should take his advice to heart, because if there's one thing Cheney's an expert on, it's ~~huge mistakes~~ terrorism:

[Khalid Shaikh Mohammed] will be able to go in whenever he's up on the stand and proselytize, if you will, millions of people out there around the world including some of his radical Muslim friends and generate a whole new generation of terrorists.
I think it will make Khalid Sheikh Mohammed something of a hero in certain circles, especially in the radical regions of Islam around the world. It will put him on the map. He'll be as important or more important than Osama Bin Laden, and we will have made it possible.

Cheney also said the current Commander in Chief is messing up Afghanistan: "When (Al Qaeda) see him announce in advance that there's going to be a withdrawal 18 months down the road, they come to the point where they feel like their strategy, their world view has been validated and in the meantime, your task of trying to control the situation, trying to put down the Taliban and so forth, has simply gotten harder because you're weak and indecisive when you made the decision to do it."

Oh, and besides being a temporizing weakling, Obama's also turned out to be way more radical than Cheney anticipated! "He got elected as a liberal Democrat, but conventional in the sense of falling within the parameters of the national Democratic Party," Cheney said. "He's demonstrated pretty conclusively now during his first year in office that he's more radical than that, that he's farther outside the parameters." Tough talk, but Barack is Dick's younger cousin, so you can understand why he wants to look out for him a little bit.

For a different perspective on Obama's "liberal radicalism," let's turn to Chris Hedges.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on December 9, 2009 1:01 PM

Comments [rss]

Amanda Harletsch

he talks to a very dangerous crowd, those that find meaning an edited truth in faux news, the outlet directed by a very specific agenda in spite of their lack of reasoning or even informed reporting. It is easier for this crowd to make sense of the plots of "left winger" and "communist party" against "real americans" (what TF is a real american then? a bunch of teabagers that fear knowledge and reality?)

pearl of wisdom by the man himself: "When you have a president who goes around and bows to his hosts and then proceeds to apologize profusely for the United States, I find that deeply disturbing,'' Cheney said. "That says to me this is a guy who doesn't fully understand or share that view of American exceptionalism that I think most of us believe in."...

Really? "exceptional-ism" as in belligerent unilateralism?

This dude thinks he's in roman times. There is a word for you (republican puppets): Globalization, that means democratic and legitimate power for others that are not owners of an American halliburton of sorts. That creates a complex world, not easy to digest for imperialistic biggots like the neocons.

Sommelier

Mister Five Deferments sure does like to talk like a tough guy, doesn't he? Is he still carrying that HazMat suit around with him?

Potty Boy

G'ist,

did you mean "moping" or "mopping"? If moping, should be followed by "about"

felixthecat2

He belongs is jail for violating constitutional rights, torturing captives and spreading falsehoods to justify the occupation of Iraq.

felixthecat2

He belongs IN jail for violating constitutional rights, torturing captives and spreading falsehoods to justify the occupation of Iraq.

felixthecat0

This isn't funny anymore. Please get a life. And a new name!

etypical

And yet he's free as a bird, man do I love watching you all get twisted over it.

Mordicai

"[Dick Cheney] will be able to go in whenever he's up on the stand and proselytize, if you will, millions of people out there around the world including some of his radical Muslim friends and generate a whole new generation of terrorists."

Wait, this isn't a post about how we're prosecuting Dick Cheney for his crimes? I just assumed it was.

rasputinsghost

I got this rattle, it keeps away tigers...

Dead Himmler

I never really liked Cheney but he does have some valid points. And he did keep us safe for eight years. Maybe we should all look past the part lines once in a while.

Sommelier

Safe for eight years? What about ignoring the intel that Clinton's people were trying, desperately, to get them to look at about Osama binLaden & the planned attack? How we doing with those anthrax attacks?

Safe? No... he just kept some of you stupid.

SP

"he did keep us safe for eight years."

Uh. Seriously? Are you forgetting about 9/11? Is there any proof he "kept us safe" after 9/11? Just because nothing happened during those SEVEN years after 9/11 (not eight, please learn how to count) doesn't mean he had anything to do with it, or somehow "protected" us by virtue of his alleged competence in handling national security or his also alleged expertise in running a war. Your argument is complete horse shit. This guy is a liar, a corrupt criminal, and he and his buddies fucked up while they had their chance, and now he is exploiting the pain and suffering of our troops, the Iraqi and Afghan people, for his political AND financial benefit. He should be strung up and swinging in the wind by now. The fact that he isn't is proof that this country is not a democracy but a plutarchy. Keep drinking that kool aid, they like you dumb.

nicemarmot

Yeah, I love how the Republicunts somehow take credit for post-9/11 security stuff instead of taking the blame for 9/11 itself. Since, you know, they ignored all the intelligence and went on vacation instead. Not to mention how they then helped a bunch of Bush's Saudi buddies leave the country, even though the attack was funded and backed by the Saudis.

blackwhole

Planning a successful plot to fly jet liners into the WTC didn't put this guy on the map? If that's true I doubt there's anything he or anyone else can say on the stand to raise his profile.

SP

I love how John Del Signore has usurped this blog to post stories about his favorite GOP asswads and fellow teabagger loonies. John Del Signore (aka HUGO_MEGO) should stick to his amateurish restaurant reviews and gossip page paraphrasing.

SP

And John, please don't point to your Rachael Maddow post from earlier today, that was clearly a red herring, setting up your false equivalence justification for posting this piece of drivel.

sluggo

oh F-off, you nasty, bitter old man.

The Man Bat

My thoughts exactly. GO F*CK YOURSELF, mr.cheney, farking

war criminal.

Fritzdecat

Why did you drop the ball in Tora Bora Mr Cheney?

RevWaldo

Photo Caption - Cheney interview on FOX News turns frank, personal

hotstepper

good stuff.

NannyState

Win!

dr zippy

I guess ex-VPs don't get security briefings. Al Qaeda largely left Afghanistan for Pakistan years ago. Oh, wait, Dick was VP back then so he already knows this. Why would an ex Vice President be knowingly spreading falsehoods...

nicemarmot

Cheney's quote, politics removed:

We screwed all this up, and look how bad Obama is at fixing it!

longacre

He's right about the trial.

He's right and wrong about Afghanistan. If he and Bush had not effed it up in the first place, we wouldn't be in this situation. But he's right that Obama announcing a date was a bad idea on a couple of levels, mainly politically . First, if Afghanistan turns fucko-bazoo the minute we leave, the world will blame Obama. Second, if for some reason there's a delay in bringing troops home, Obama will catch flack for it.

ladyjane

but don't you think that this man is already viewed as a hero in the circles Cheney is referring to? Cause I feel like that's a been there, done that kind of thing...

I mean, where would you want the trial to be, rural Kentucky? Mass media will still ensure that anyone who wants to know about it will have the ability to do so.