Dick Cheney gets a taste of his own medicine

Vice President Dick Cheney lashed out at Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) for saying that “this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything,” using his customary attack dog style:

Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday criticized Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for making “uninformed and misleading” statements about the war in Iraq.

“What is most troubling about Mr. Reid’s comments yesterday is his defeatism,” the vice president said in a rare Capitol Hill press conference.

“Indeed, last week, he said the war is already lost, and the timetable legislation he is pursuing would guarantee defeat.”

And of course, the warhawks chimed in. Investor’s Business Daily called Democrats the “party of retreat.” Meanwhile, Michelle Malkin filmed herself spelling “loser” and played chicken noises while showing photos of Democrats, including decorated veterans Jack Murtha and John Kerry. Pirate’s Cove called Reid and his fellow Democrats un-American, and said that they are willing to let suicide bombers and car bombers define the foreign policy of the United States. And Pam Oshry tried to compare the war in Iraq with the war on poverty, with puzzling results.

But here’s the thing: even the administration no longer believes that victory is possible in Iraq. Karl Rove says that he wishes the war “had never existed,” and tried to claim that the war was started by Osama bin Laden. Bush himself says that “the verdict is still out” on whether or not the Iraqi government can end sectarian violence, and suggested that the current troop surge is not reducing the level of violence. Even Bush’s top general in Iraq seems to have doubts. In a recent interview with the Washington Post, General Patreaus painted a bleak picture:

“I don’t think you’re ever going to get rid of all the car bombs,” Petraeus said. “Iraq is going to have to learn — as did, say, Northern Ireland — to live with some degree of sensational attacks.”

Since when does the Bush administration give credit for its successes to Osama bin Laden? Since when do they say that they wish that the great triumph of their term in office had never existed? Since when do they say that “the jury is out” as to whether or not they will ultimately succeed?

Since never.

On the eve of the 2006 elections, Bush and Rove confidently predicted Republican victories in both the House and Senate. As late as last October, Bush expressed confidence that he could persuade congress to accept his proposal to overhaul Social Security. And of course, Bush famously declared victory in Iraq four long years ago:

So when Bush says that he doesn’t know whether or not we can win, I take that to mean that he’s already given up.

While it’s a bit comforting to find that Bush is finally accepting the judgment of the nation’s best military minds, including Gen. Barry McCaffrey and Gen. Jack Sheehan, I find it disturbing that he is still willing to send out his attack dog to smear his political rivals and defend the his conduct of the war. Sending out Dick Cheney indicates that Bush is unwilling to withdraw from a conflict that he knows is already lost, until he can find a suitable scapegoat.

(cross posted at Liberal Avenger)

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2007 at 4:51 am and is filed under Bush Administration, Lies, Iraq, War. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.