THE Iraq war has cost the US 50-60 times more than the Bush administration predicted and was a central cause of the sub-prime banking crisis threatening the world economy, according to Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz.
The former World Bank vice-president yesterday said the war had, so far, cost the US something like $US3trillion ($3.3 trillion) compared with the $US50-$US60-billion predicted in 2003.
Australia also faced a real bill much greater than the $2.2billion in military spending reported last week by Australian Defence Force chief Angus Houston, Professor Stiglitz said, pointing to higher oil prices and other indirect costs of the wars.
Professor Stiglitz told the Chatham House think tank in London that the Bush White House was currently estimating the cost of the war at about $US500 billion, but that figure massively understated things such as the medical and welfare costs of US military servicemen.
The war was now the second-most expensive in US history after World War II and the second-longest after Vietnam, he said.
The spending on Iraq was a hidden cause of the current credit crunch because the US central bank responded to the massive financial drain of the war by flooding the American economy with cheap credit.
"The regulators were looking the other way and money was being lent to anybody this side of a life-support system," he said.
That led to a housing bubble and a consumption boom, and the fallout was plunging the US economy into recession and saddling the next US president with the biggest budget deficit in history, he said.
Professor Stiglitz, an academic at the Columbia Business School and a former economic adviser to president Bill Clinton, said a further $US500 billion was going to be spent on the fighting in the next two years and that could have been used more effectively to improve the security and quality of life of Americans and the rest of the world.
The money being spent on the war each week would be enough to wipe out illiteracy around the world, he said.
Just a few days' funding would be enough to provide health insurance for US children who were not covered, he said.
The public had been encouraged by the White House to ignore the costs of the war because of the belief that the war would somehow pay for itself or be paid for by Iraqi oil or US allies.
"When the Bush administration went to war in Iraq it obviously didn't focus very much on the cost. Larry Lindsey, the chief economic adviser, said the cost was going to be between $US100billion and $US200 billion - and for that slight moment of quasi-honesty he was fired.
"(Then defence secretary Donald) Rumsfeld responded and said 'baloney', and the number the administration came up with was $US50 to $US60 billion. We have calculated that the cost was more like $US3 trillion.
"Three trillion is a very conservative number, the true costs are likely to be much larger than that."
Five years after the war, the US was still spending about $US50billion every three months on direct military costs, he said.
Professor Stiglitz and another Clinton administration economist, Linda Bilmes, have produced a book, The Three Trillion Dollar War, pulling together their research on the true cost of the war, which does not include the cost to Iraq.
One of the greatest discrepancies is that the official figures do not include the long-term healthcare and social benefits for injured servicemen, who are surviving previously fatal attacks because of improved body armour.
"The ratio of injuries to fatalities in a normal war is 2:1. In this war they admitted to 7:1 but a true number is (something) like 15:1."
Some 100,000 servicemen have been diagnosed with serious psychological problems and the soldiers doing the most tours of duty have not yet returned.
Professor Stiglitz attributed to the Iraq war $US5-$US10 of the almost $US80-a-barrel increase in oil prices since the start of the war, adding that it would have been reasonable to attribute more than $US35 of that rise to the war.
He said the British bill for its role in the war was about 20 times the pound stg. 1billion ($2.1 billion) that former prime minister Tony Blair estimated before the war.
The British Government was yesterday ordered to release details of its planning for the war, when the country's Information Commissioner backed a Freedom of Information request for the minutes of two cabinet meetings in the days before the war.
Commissioner Richard Thomas said that because of the importance of the decision to go to war, the public interest in disclosing the minutes outweighed the public interest in withholding the information.
Posts
March 19th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Grounds for Impeachment.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:18 am
FIRE THIS SON-OF-A-BlTCH NOW!!!!
March 19th, 2008 at 10:18 am
“fluctuate” this Cheney
March 19th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I wonder if Pelosi will listen now.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Hmmm… from that little display of what Cheney really thinks of democracy… I can see how what we’re doing in Iraq is a success to him.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I need to stop reading this site - sometimes I just can’t stand it.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am
This man has no conscience or soul. IMPEACH NOW!!!
March 19th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Jeannie See Says:
March 19th, 2008 at 10:19 am
I wonder if Pelosi will listen now.
No, she hasn’t been listening - I think she’s one of them in disguise.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Wow. This means that one third of the American public is completely delusional.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:23 am
good_golly Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
There have undoubtedly been phenomelal improvements, but there is obviously still work to be done.
(says it all, doesn’t it?)
March 19th, 2008 at 10:24 am
RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.
CHENEY: So?
RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?
CHENEY: No. I think two-third of Americans can blow me.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:27 am
Did Martha press Cheney on how long the poll numbers have been going down, and how far down the numbers are?
The whole thrust of this administration is to bancrupt the country to make it easier to control the population by forcing us to work at whatever wages the economic elites decide to pay us. It also makes it easier for that exalted economic class to take over whatever businesses are desired and to close down any competition.
cheney says what his cronies want him to say and the SCLM eat it up by the bowl full. Our Dem leadership, not just pelosi and reid, are really enablers unwilling to do the job that they were elected to do in 2006 - IMPEACH THEM ALL!!
March 19th, 2008 at 10:27 am
I would sure like to see Darth Cheney “blown off course”.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:27 am
My immediate response to this article was “Fluctuate? FLUCTUATE? Go fluctuate yourself, Cheney.”
Then I saw how Shoeless had stripped away the pretense of Cheney’s verbiage and revealed the truth of his philosophy.
Brilliant, Shoeless. Just frickin’ brilliant.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:28 am
We the People……..
Bush, Cheney and the rest of this administration has failed us.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:28 am
what a dick!…lol?
March 19th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Taxation without representation!
Let them eat cake, huh?
We don’t even need high crimes. FIRE them for not doing what they (objectively) swore to do. They are stealing their salary.
This is also ridiculous… fluctuation? The only fluctuation is Bush’s rating down to 19% and the economic confidence right behind, with the dollar. America has been anti-war for at least three years, probably four despite the STOLEN election via vote exclusion.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:31 am
That’s what you get with an appointed president and VP.
Antoinette -style hubris.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:32 am
What monumental arrogance. Those two letters sum up everything that is wrong with this administration, mostly due to his influence in the realm of abuse of executive power. That is Cheney’s view of the “Unitary Executive”— one who rules and doesn’t pay any heed to public opinion or to other branches of government. What a monumental a-hole!
March 19th, 2008 at 10:32 am
joe cantwell Says:
March 19th, 2008 at 10:23 am
good_golly Says:
March 17th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
There have undoubtedly been phenomelal improvements, but there is obviously still work to be done.
(says it all, doesn’t it?)
Yeah , about Goof_Jelly’s mental disorder(s) ; not a damn thing about what’s actually happening in Iraq , though……….
March 19th, 2008 at 10:33 am
The picture of Cheney above reminds me of Edgar Allen Poe’s “Telltale Heart”. His right eye is pure evil.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:34 am
Cheney and his ilk will never admit to making a mistake in Iraq. Their only purpose is to leave the war to the next president and get out of town. This should not be surprising. Nor should the disregard for the will of the people.
We should be more worried by the fact that a substantial number of people will vote for the Republican candidate because they still believe that the Republicans will do a better job on terrorism. The mindless droning by Cheney and others projects an image of strength. The Democrats must learn the art of ridicule in order to expose the stupidity of their positions. MSM will not even challenge it. The public discourse will be improved only when the Democrats learn to respond to the Republican take on these issues with derision.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:34 am
I love how 2002 and 2004 (and all that snark) were “mandates” supporting neocons, but 2006 was an aberration and two years of 67% “get us out” mean nothing.
Ongoing war, no clear victory… they make more money with American boots on Iraqi soil spending and getting tax money, before 2003 it was less of a market. So why stop the occupation?
March 19th, 2008 at 10:34 am
appropos:
Daily Star (Lebanon)
In an editorial on the tour of the Middle East by the United States vice-president, Dick Cheney, the paper says that it would carry a lot more credibility if he had not played such an instrumental role in fomenting the multiple crises that he now seeks to resolve.
Cheney’s regional tour: returns to the scenes of the crimes
By The Daily Star
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Editorial
US Vice President Dick Cheney’s regional tour would carry a lot more credibility if he had not played such an instrumental role in fomenting the multiple crises that he now seeks to resolve. The Bush administration whose policies he has done so much to define has been a disaster for the Middle East, and short of a lengthy apology, nothing he does now will do much good. The best the region can hope for, in fact, is that Cheney and his colleagues do not insist on imposing yet another war on the peoples of this part of the world.
[…]
http://dailystar.com.lb/ article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=17&article_id=90033
via:http://www.cfr.org/publication/15752/
March 19th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Wow… now that’s truly awe inspiring arrogance!
March 19th, 2008 at 10:36 am
After the election, let’s have McCain, Bush & Cheney be sentenced to a Freidman in Iraq.
No guards. No Blackwater. No gunships overhead. Just them & the
Iraqi people.
We’ll see then how great or success is…
March 19th, 2008 at 10:38 am
CHEYNEY: Since I didn’t care what the public thought after we stole two elections and after I authorized the attacks on New York and the Pentagon on 9/11, why should I care what it thinks now?
March 19th, 2008 at 10:38 am
And who do you think you work for you fat arrogant slime ball? I say impeachment is not harsh enough.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Thanks for making it clear to two-thirds of Americans, Dick. When your heart physically gives out, Lynne Cheney, the future widow, will be left complaining about the same 2/3 of Americans who will boastfully approve of your death.
You bottomfeeding, ugly, yellow scum. You have plaque stuck on your teeth and in your heart. Your mind gave out years ago, you bone-chewing vermin trash.
May this rotten garbage go down as the worst VP in history. Bush is not President here, he’s too stupid to be even a bad one, he’s simply the spokesidiot of Dick — and the bed bugs at the AEI.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I believe in karma.
I believe in karma.
I believe in karma.
There, Cheney shall be insignificant and powerless as he would pretend two thirds of America is.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:43 am
So speaks the greatest traitor to the American people this nation has ever suffered.
I guess this is one of the single syllable words he was lauded for in Baghdad the other day.
Amen, McWars.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Dick Cheney has no business whatsoever in a representative, republican democracy like we have. He is better suited to an authoritarian dictatorship or a fascist plutocracy where elites like himself make the decisions without listening to the pesky peasants who live far away from the decadent bubble inhabited by the rich and powerful.
Worst. Vice President. Ever.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:47 am
fluc·tu·ate (flkch-t)
v. fluc·tu·at·ed, fluc·tu·at·ing, fluc·tu·ates
v.intr.
1. To vary irregularly. See Synonyms at swing.
2. To rise and fall in or as if in waves; undulate.
v.tr.
To cause to rise and fall or vary irregularly.
CBS News Poll. March 15-17, 2008. N=844 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3.
“Do you think the result of the war with Iraq was worth the loss of American life and other costs of attacking Iraq, or not?”
Worth It Not Worth It Unsure
% % %
3/15-17/08
29 /64 /7
3/9-12/06
25 /70 /5
2/22-26/06
29 /63 /8
10/30 - 11/1/05
31 /64 /5
8/26-28/03
46 /46 /8
08/11-12/03
46 /45 /9
Lying sack of shit.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Go to he11.
Arrogant S.o.b. should have his steel heart rust inside his chest, and die in agony.
March 19th, 2008 at 10:50 am
RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?
CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.
Oh really , Dick ?
Remember that little tussle , oh say about 40 years ago , that you managed to avoid on 5 different occasions ; wasn’t that insanity halted by public opinion you ignorant jackass ?
March 19th, 2008 at 10:58 am
The Bush Admin. in a nutshell :
Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
Supremacy of the Military
Rampant Sexism
Controlled Mass Media
Obsession with National Security
Religion and Government are Intertwined
Corporate Power is Protected
Labor Power is Suppressed
Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
Obsession with Crime and Punishment
Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
Fraudulent Elections
March 19th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Go Cheney, yourself!
March 19th, 2008 at 11:03 am
Aaah yes!! the mind of a sociopathic amoral corporate executive with a chimpy sock puppet.
Thank you for that glimpse into your soul Mr. Cheney.
He knows that no one is do anything about him.
He is a thug and this is how these people operate.
The fact that the American people are not outraged and rioting for his head on a post is beyond comprehension.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:03 am
CHENEY: No. I think two-third of Americans can blow me.
How about “No, I think two-thirds of Americans can go fu(k themselves”. That’s pretty much the attitude of the entire Bush Crime Family.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:05 am
If Cheney’s wet dream is to start a new war with Iran and continue this Iraq debacle ad infinitum I would like to share my wet dream. That while over in the ME some patriotic American soldier suffering from PTSD frags this MFer right in his smug face. This traitorous VP has singlehandedly looted our Treasury, trashed our Constitution, destroyed our standing on the World stage, caused our recession, hobbled the chance of any ecological progress for eight years, spied on his foes and the Nation since February 2001, obstructed justice at every turn, destroyed criminal evidence and bold facedly strutts around insisting it was all the right thing to do and to Hell with what Americans want and so poorly need. If there is any justice he and his imp Addington will both suffer horribly painful, slow deaths in prison. Serious steps need to be taken so that America never has to suffer like this again at the hands of some war profiteering criminal tyrant.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:06 am
And right after the interview, Martha Raddatz had to call in a Hazmat team and be cleaned thouroughly for being that close to EVIL INCARNATE.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Words can’t describe.
Continually working against public opinion should be grounds for firing asap. It shouldn’t take an act of the universe.
With any luck, his borrowed yacht will hit a floating explosive device while he’s fishing and send him to where he belongs.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:17 am
It’s hard for me to understand how these people don’t get it that they are elected to protect the constitution and represent the people of this country. They were not elected to advance the cause of the Republican party and to enrich their friends.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Old Cheney is working for us. How dare him. He needs to be impeach now.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Of course Cheney is right! What do you think this is, a “government of the people, for the people”?
/sarcasm off
March 19th, 2008 at 11:24 am
News announcement of the not-too-distant future:
Dick Cheney has died of a heart attack!!
REAL Americans and the WORLD:
SO?
Thank God!!
March 19th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Of course Cheney doesn’t care what Americans think because he hates his Country. That’s obvious.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:27 am
Poor g_g seems to be suffering from BFS* too…
All the troll can do anymore is cut and paste its own days old comments.
Talk about a bitter, broken troll…
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA…
*Bush Fatigue Syndrome
March 19th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Let A = America majority opinion: The war isn’t worth it”
Let B = Bush: “The war is worth it”.
Let C = Cheney: “The War IS worth it”
Let P = Pollack: “Despite mistakes….the war may be worth it”
Let Pi = The rest of the Press.
Pi x (B+C+P)- A = n
What is n?
a) n = negative A
b) n is >30 years
c) n is > $1 trillion
d) n is Jane gets 3/5ths of a tainted apple, Jimmy has no legs and Dick’s personal worth is >$300 million.
e) All of the above
March 19th, 2008 at 11:29 am
I can’t imagine how much security this phuckwad needs on these trips to spew mindless drivel.
This guy needs a drool cup & a psych evaluation, pronto.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:33 am
If there is one person worse than bush it is cheney…what a hollow humanbeing. When Enron turned off California’s power and charged astronomical rates..cheney cared less. He ignores public opinion, the public he takes a salary from.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I picture Bush and Cheney in hell with their MASTER Satan, and he is SMASHING THEIR FACES IN EVERY SECOND FOR ETERNITY.
WHAM! SPLAT!
WHAM! SPLAT!
WHAM! SPLAT!
WHAM! SPLAT!
WHAM! SPLAT!
WHAM! SPLAT!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
ETERNAL FUN for their MASTER Satan. And TRAITOR Ronnie Reagan, already DEAD and BURNING!
March 19th, 2008 at 11:35 am
ralph the wonder llama Says:
My immediate response to this article was “Fluctuate? FLUCTUATE? Go fluctuate yourself, Cheney.”
CHENEY: On the security front, I think there’s a general consensus that we’ve made major progress, that the surge has worked. That’s been a major success.
RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.
CHENEY: So?
RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?
CHENEY: No. I think two-third of Americans can go fluctuate themselves.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:35 am
“… to come within the next few weeks.”
Geez, talk about reading tea leaves… g_g is really stretching the wording.
Me t’inks g_g is ASSUMING waaaaay tooooo much there.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:36 am
GG - try getting some info from other than your standard pap..read what real soldiers on the ground say. Things are NOT better they are using payoffs to militant leaders to even keep a little quiet. Or better yet, listen to what Petraeus is saying…IT IS NOT PROGRESSING. Tune in to programs with real Iraqi citizens opinion, how they enjoy total poverty.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Marie at 10:48 am
Go to he11.
Arrogant S.o.b. should have his steel heart rust inside his chest, and die in agony.
heard on maddow:
The maker of a common medical device issue a press release that sounds like a terrible pick up line heard at a tech convention. WARNING: Your heart may be hacked.
http://blog.wired.com/ 27bstroke6/ 2008/ 03/ wifi-pacemaker.html
bwaaa ha ha ha ha…
March 19th, 2008 at 11:37 am
After 5 wasted years, millions of lives, and billions of dollars, you look like a complete f**king a**hole every time you attempt to justify staying any longer.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:38 am
CHENEY: No. I think two-third of Americans can go fluctuate themselves.
________
Now now now… the Dickster’s got a valid point here. The world is allus in flux.
Sometimes the world flux down.
And sometime the world flux up.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:38 am
may he suffer a sloooowwwwwww and PAINFUL death.
i will be the first to sh!t on the bastards grave!
March 19th, 2008 at 11:39 am
#52:
That just may be enough time to get 18 of the 18 provinces under control of Iraqi security forces
-or- This will give more time to ignore the tanking economy and solidify a Depression worse than 1929, This will give more time for another natural disaster (Katrina)so that our resources (National Guard) are “outsourced” to Iraq/Iran, This will give Private paramilitary contractors to continue to rake in Billions in prfits, This will ensure that Bechtel, Haliburton (i.e.) to continue to rake in Billions of profits.
Go, Cheney yourself!
March 19th, 2008 at 11:39 am
GG you dumb cnt. The point is that when Cheney is asked “So? You don’t care what the American people think?” his answer is “No”.
Please smear your sycophant smag somewhere else.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:43 am
So, when the soldiers on the ground are saying things are just as bad and the Iraqi government officials and families don’t leave the Green Zone…they are just misinformed. Everyone is wrong except cheney and bush….ok.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:43 am
And it’s been said that Rev. Write is “unamerican”… What could possibly be more unamerican than simply dismissing the will of the people. Certainly I’m not going to defend the argument that “the majority is always right”, but to so casually and callously dismiss 2/3 of of the country is just plain counter to the whole concept of democracy, civil discourse, and representative government. To simply argue something along the lines of “those 2/3 must be wrong, because otherwise I’D be wrong, and we can’t let that happen” is a sure sign of a delusional, authoritarian, unamerican dictator.
Zathusseinrus
March 19th, 2008 at 11:44 am
OMG> That arrogant, evil old bastard.
Satan, please come and collect your faithful old servant - he needs to come home to you.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:45 am
LividLib, Bush and Cheney’s graves are gonna have some of the thickest, greenest grass ever seen on them…
And you’ll have to take a number and wait in such a long time to get yer chance.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:45 am
#36, excellent job on the 14 points of FACISM, don`t forget the “NOBLE LIE”. Arogance is what got us in this “messopatamia” in the first place.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Unfortunately bush would just replace cheney with another cheney…they are rampant in his small circle of loyal bush allies. Wolfowitz, Pearle, Feith, Snow…the list of Cheneys goes on and on. Heartless, selfish, arrogant asses. Find a Republican and you find an empty,selfish person.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:47 am
#68
Thank you.
Of course, the “big lie” was 9/11. Didn’t Hilter say something about a “big lie” : the bigger the lie, the more people wouldn’t think to challenge it.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Pardon me if this has been said previously….
SHUT THE F_CK UP, YOU F_CKING F_CK!
March 19th, 2008 at 11:52 am
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~ Voltaire
March 19th, 2008 at 11:54 am
So?
March 19th, 2008 at 11:55 am
Sorry - forgot the link:
http://www.democracynow.org/ 2008/ 3/ 19/ half_a_decade_of_war_five
March 19th, 2008 at 11:55 am
#70: As far as the big lie goes, it was Goebbels who said,
‘If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”
March 19th, 2008 at 11:56 am
THE HIGH PRICE OF INCOMPETENCE
I don’t believe that the Bush adminstration’s Iraq invasion and occupation fiasco was initially planned and executed by “evil” men and women. But I do believe it was the most incompetently and disastrously planned and executed military and foreign policy blunder in the history of the United States of America. The “evil” was in the arrogance, stupidity and failures of judgment that resulted from what happened in Iraq that the Bush administration was far too incompetent to foresee and then far too dishonest to admit for fear of political consequences. The “evil” was in the outright lying, purposeful distortions and deliberate denials for the purpose of covering up the unconsiconable amount of Iraqi death and destruction that resulted from the Bush administration’s multiple serial failures of judgment and planning. The “evil” was perpetuating death and destruction to save political face. The “evil” was in deceiving and now forcing the American taxpayers to waste trilions of their hard earned dollars, that could have been invested in America, for a failed war that has absolutely no military, political, moral, social or economic benefit to the United States of America. The lies and cover-ups are continuing five years later, and there is no doubt whatsoever that the men and women who are still planning and executing them are representations of “evil” incarnate. Their “incompetence” grew into “evil” because they valued their political lives over the mortal lives of 4000 patriotic American solidiers, hundreds of thousands of helpless and innocent Iraqi civilians and hundreds of billions, if not trillions, of taxpayer dollars that could have been used to improve the quality of the lives of American men, women and children. At this point, there are no explanations or excuses that can hide the “evil” that the men and women of the Bush administration are forcing down the throats of decent and conscientious American citizens. They are past the point of redemption. They have become “evil” itself.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Leaders also protect their citizens and country, they do not bankrupt, lie and ruin the country they receive their salaries from. Americans gave permission to enter Afganistan NOT Iraq. AND for years the majority wanted troops home.
March 19th, 2008 at 11:59 am
How do you spell a**hole?
C-H-E-N-E-Y
March 19th, 2008 at 11:59 am
GG needs to go visit Iraq and watch so many innocents try to work but end up watching their child die. Lets see your compassion for Cheney then.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
What a Dick
March 19th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
It is shameful that this War Criminal has not been taken out of office and put on trial for his WAR CRIMES. It is just as shameful that part of our population supports this kind of War Criminal.
GoneGoofy is proof of the rampant stupidity that has consumed that part of the country, hate radio has brainwashed the simple into believing anything that they spew on the airwaves.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
I think that man-sized safe in Cheney’s office is actually some knid of “bat pole” thingy like in the old t.v. series. Only thing is this one leads straight to Hell. When the shit hits the fan around the WH and he goes to his undisclosed location just where do you think he’s going? Also, how do you think that fire got started in his office? Maybe a little backdraft from the depths. Rumour has it that the door is triggered by some kind of retinal scanner that digitally reads the level of pure evil in your eye. Cheney’s levels are so high, he is the only one evil enough to trigger it. Rove managed to get in a few times and Cheney had him “gimpped” ala “Pulp Fiction” by Jeff Gannon. When he realized that Karl enjoyed it a little too much, he was told that if Dick ever catches him in Hell again before his time, he can just forget about Ice Cream Fridays.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
good_golly Says:
March 19th, 2008 at 11:53 am
nanlichi Says:
March 19th, 2008 at 11:39 am
Leaders lead.
_____________
They also follow the law. They don’t blow off subpoena after subpoena simply because they’re afraid their illegal behavior will be outted.
_____________
They don’t blindly follow public opinion polls, especially public opinion polls as materially misrepresented by ThinkProgress.
_____________
There’s a difference between a “poll” and the will of the people, ding_dong.
And I guess those polls back in 2002 that showed Botch getting a plus 80% approval ratings after 9/11, huh?
March 19th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Were meaningless…. those 80% plus polls were meaningless.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
If you look at the actual poll cited above, it does not say that 61 percent support the immediate redeployment of U.S. troops. It says that 61 percent support redeployment within a few months after the next POTUS takes office.
Since the answer says that 61% support redeployment after the new President takes office, one would assume that is how the question was worded. These questions are quite specific. They don’t ask “When do you think troops should be deployed”, the ask something like “Do you support having the new President redeploy the troops after he/she takes office?”
If anyone takes a look at the recent polls on Iraq, all say that a large majority thinks it was not worth what it has cost in lives and money, a large majority thinks it is seriously affecting our economy and a large majority wants us to get the hell out of there.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Find a Republican and you find an empty, selfish person.
You forgot soulless.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
so? can be used to answer any question mr cheney ?
1/5th of Americans dont have health care / So
4000 troops have died mr Cheney / So
America is in recession Mr Cheney / So
nowhere else in the world can a politician use / SO
March 19th, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Read it very slowly GG, I will post it here again:
RADDATZ: Two-third of Americans say it’s not worth fighting.
CHENEY: So?
RADDATZ So? You don’t care what the American people think?
CHENEY: No. I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls.
Cheney unequivocally says that he doesn’t care what the American people think. He rationalizes that arrogant comment by referring to “flucuations”. Cognitive dissonance at its best. A VP of supposedly the most democratic country in the world who rationalizes ignoring 2/3rds of the people he represents?
March 19th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
So?
http://www.democracynow.org/ 2008/ 3/ 18/ winter_soldier_contd_us_vets_active
March 19th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Thanks for posting these testimonials, hussein toasterhead. They are heartbreaking.
Cheney would say SO?
March 19th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
The problem is Cheney doesn’t feel he has to answer to the citizens his boss is bush who he controls completely. So, then actually cheney is cheney’s boss. How convenient for a morally corrupt breathing germ.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Thank God someone is reading about the Winter Soldier, thought it was just a few of us.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
So?
http://www.democracynow.org/ 2008/ 3/ 17/ winter_soldier_us_vets_active_duty
March 19th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Where does the picture above come from? Encyclopedia besides “Malevolent Grin” definition?
March 19th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
texaslady …
So, then actually cheney is cheney’s boss…
My guess, Satan.
March 19th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
In reply to #77..
You wrote a very well thought out response and I’m in agreement with all of your thoughts; however, don’t think for one moment that the architects of this war were not “evil” men. They were. The Cheney’s, Pearl’s and Wolfowitz’ of this world wanted action taken against Iraq while President Clinton was in office. They got their wish and took advantage of the ignorance of the next president and put their plan into motion. If you wanted to get real “evil” we could talk about those who helped the November vote go all the way to the Supreme Court. This entire administration was built on “evil.” Their reasoning was irrational. Their mistakes were deadly. To this day they refuse to admit to mistakes while insisting everything must stay the same. Their fear game is lacking because nobody listens anymore, thank God. And, Cheney thumbs his nose at the American people. He is an arrogant bully.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
…as I said before: I hope this FACIST pig, Dick Chnney, ends up like his Second World War counterpart, Mussolini. His fat and ugly body hanging up side down and the Italians cuing up to spit on it!
March 19th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
…cueing up to spit on it!
March 19th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
So everyone here supported Dennis Kucinich for President?
March 19th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
CHENEY: So?
Memo to Congress and Pelosi: Did you hear that? Cheney doesn’t give a rat’s ass on what the American people think. Dick only cares about Dick!
March 19th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Did you know that just before 9-11 cheney was inexplicably put in charge of NORAD? It’s true. The first and only time a civilian was placed in that position. Check it out. And read some of what Jim Marrs has written and spoken about on this subject.
March 19th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Three cheers for Dick for telling it like it is, at least in the attitude of the ruling class towards democracy. The Republicans and the Democrats are two cheeks of the same bottom.
In December, the Pentagon released “good news” from Iraq, a study of focus groups from all over the country that found that Iraqis have “shared beliefs”, so that reconciliation should be possible, contrary to claims of critics of the invasion. The shared beliefs were two. First, the US invasion is the cause of the sectarian violence that has torn Iraq to shreds. Second, the invaders should withdraw and leave Iraq to its people.
A few weeks after the Pentagon report, New York Times military-Iraq expert Michael R. Gordon wrote a reasoned and comprehensive review of the options on Iraq policy facing the candidates for the presidential election. One voice is missing in the debate: Iraqis. Their preference is not rejected. Rather, it is not worthy of mention. And it seems that there is no notice taken of the fact. That makes sense on the usual tacit assumption of almost all discourse on international affairs: We own the world, so what does it matter what others think? They are “unpeople”, to borrow the term used by British diplomatic historian Mark Curtis in his work on Britain’s crimes of empire. Routinely, Americans join Iraqis in unpeoplehood. Their preferences, too, provide no options.
Its a self evident truth that the U.S. is taking on more aspects of fascism. The problem is that right wing parties and power stuctures exist to transfer power and wealth to the privileded elite and as every child knows, rather than saying “i want it and i dont care what you think” they quickly learn to say something like “if i get it that will be good for everyone else because of (this reason or that)”. Therefore in order to promote exploitation of the population as socially or individually beneficial its proponents need to be either immoral liars or nuts and over time this mindset will become structurally embedded. Neo-Conservative doctrine and ideology is simply an intellectual rationalisation for a corrupt social order. The U.S. Started as a paradise on earth for religous zealots and elitists, particularly in the south where a landed gentry attempted to create, and largely succeded, a pure version of the hierarchical english class system with slaves replacing the white lower orders. This immoral social stucture has simply been extended globally.
The end of the U.S. empire is well overdue. Like all empires, such as the British, French, Soviet, Chinese, Indonesian and others it has a malignant and parasitic character. It differs from all others empires in that its global reach far surpasses others and its methods are more advanced and extensive. Real particpative democracy in the U.S. is a fantasy. The U.S. has one political party, The Business party, with two slightly different factions. On almost all significant social issues both the Republicans and the Democrats are well to the right of the overwhelming majority of the population. The current executive office holders are an extreme version of whats gone before and in fact they are helping the world by deliberately bringing forward the financial collapse of the U.S. through their policy of ’slaying the beast’(Government). The U.S. polity is one of narcissism, immorality and individualism and is irredeemable in its current form.
March 20th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Where is Lee Harvey Oswald now that we need him?