Cheney On Iraq in 1994
August 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment
This video was aired on C-SPAN originally and more recently on the Daily Show. I’m shocked at how accurate his predictions of how an invasion of Iraq would effect America and the region. This account is spot on and certainly if he was uninvolved in the current administration he’d be jumping up and down saying I told you so.
Later on Meet The Press in August of 2000 (sourced from ThinkProgress.org):
Tim Russert: Do you regret not taking Saddam out nine years ago?
Dick Cheney: I don’t, Tim. It was–and it’s been talked about since then. But the fact of the matter is, the only way you could have done that would be to go to Baghdad and occupy Iraq. If we’d done that, the U.S. would have been all alone. We would not have had the support of the coalition, especially of the Arab nations that fought alongside us in Kuwait. None of them ever set foot inside Iraq. Conversations I had with leaders in the region afterwards–they all supported the decision that was made not to go to Baghdad.
They were concerned that we not get into a position where we shifted instead of being the leader of an international coalition to roll back Iraqi aggression to one in which we were an imperialist power, willy-nilly moving into capitals in that part of the world taking down governments. So I think we got it right, so suppose it’s one of those things that’ll be debated for some time. But I thought the decision was sound at the time, and I do today. [Meet the Press, 8/27/00]
The most distressing aspect of this is that when we went into Iraq across the board the administration convinced the American people that this was going to be a simple operation, oil would pay for it all, and the Iraqi people would “greet us as liberators.” This feeling of betrayal and a sense of being manipulated is what demonizes the current government in my opinion.
There are solid arguments on both sides on whether or not we are better off having invaded Iraq and unseated Saddam. I don’t think it is productive to engage in this debate at this point. In many ways this hindsight clouds the overall discussion.
Instead, I am most bothered by this example of clear manipulation of perceptions by the administration. Nothing has changed to prevent this from being done again. They might claim 9/11 changed everything, but it 100% fact that Cheney was not clear with us about what negative potentials this invasion presented. This irresponsibility has cost over 3700 US lives and innumerable Iraqi and international coalition casualties and injuries.
Tags: 911, baghdad, cheney, coalition, dick cheney, iraq, manipulated, manipulation, saddam, saddam hussein, think progress, US, video, war
Alphabetic Series of Screw-Ups
September 13, 2005 | 2 Comments
On an
Check it out:
Abu Graib
Bin Laden
Chalabi
Deficit
Enron
Failure to Find WMDs
Halliburton
Iraq
John Bolton
Katrina
Locusts
Mars Attacks
North Korea
Osama & Jenna
Pregnancy: Osama & Jenna
Queer Revolt
Rodents of Unusual Size
Syrian War
Tigers
Unicyclists, Nuclear
Voldemort
WWIII
X-Rated Tape: Osama & Jenna
Yam Shortage
Zero People Left on Earth
They left out ‘G’ which is depressing. Anyone got anything great to put in for ‘G’? Comment and let me know.
Tags: Abu Graib, alphabetic list, Beleaguered Bush, Bin Laden, Bush, Bush Administration, Chalabi, Daily Show, Deficit, Ed Helms, Enron, Failure to Find WMDs, george w bush, Halliburton, impeach bush, iraq, John Bolton, Jon Stewart, katrina, Locusts, Mars Attacks, North Korea, Osama & Jenna, Queer Revolt, Rodents of Unusual Size, Syrian War, Tigers, Unicyclists, Nuclear, Voldemort, WWIII, Yam Shortage, Zero People Left on Earth
Google Earth, an Eye on Katrina
September 10, 2005 | 61 Comments
On
If you don’t have Google Earth yet, go get it. This is one of the coolest
The following are some fantastic related sites that have sprung up since the inception of Google
Another great must see site is
I’ve also recently been turned on to Google Earth Hacks. This site has a lot of great downloadable features to work with Google Earth specifically.
The Google Earth KML Tutorial has information about how to create
Finally gCensus has combined census data with Google Maps to produce some fantastic results as you zoom in. This is a very useful resource.
Tags: cnn, desktop applications, Earth, google, Google Earth, Google Earth Plus, google maps, Google Sightseeing, googleearth, googleearth.com,satellite,map, imagery, iraq, katrina, KML, maps, New Orleans
Welcome Home PJ
June 18, 2005 | 1 Comment
When PJ finally made it home from Iraq after a year away, his friends and family threw him a big party. See the gallery of that night here. At this point this is sort of old news, but I just got around to getting the gallery posted.
Tags: family, gallery, iraq, philip tirrell jr, tirrell, troops, war
744th Coming Home!
February 2, 2005 | 2 Comments
Update: My brother is finally home safely.
The following are links related to his unit returning. As more articles come in I’ll post them here:
The 744th is coming home to Hillsboro - Concord Monitor
Danger tempers joy of return - Union Leader
Another NH Guard Unit Prepares To Leave Iraq - WMUR
. . . and another is on the way home - Union Leader
Cheers, tears for returning Guard members - Seacost Online
From Battle Comes New Perspective - Union Leader
At ‘home’ at Camp Anaconda - Union Leader
More NH troops back on US soil - Nashua Telegraph
Tags: 744th, iraq, new hampshire, nh, philip tirrell jr, troops, war