The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion 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 attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
