The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
