Ex- VP Dick Cheney: An Examination on His Influential Political Career
The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
