Cheney Tries to Whitewash Warnings About Iraqi Insurgency

Speaking at a press conference today about the Iraqi uprising, the vice president said, “I don’t think anybody anticipated the level of violence that we’ve encountered….”

Problem is, Cheney’s statement seems patently false.

In January 2003 (two months before the invasion) President Bush received a report from the National Intelligence Council that “warned of a possible insurgency against the new Iraqi government or American-led forces, saying that rogue elements from Saddam Hussein’s government could work with existing terrorist groups or act independently to wage guerrilla warfare,” according to the New York Times.

of Cheney’s admission and subsequent attempts at whitewash of history.

Transcript:

Crooks and Liars:

Q: Do you think that you underestimated the insurgency’s strength?

Cheney: I think so, umm I guess, the uh, if I look back on it now. I don’t think anybody anticipated the level of violence that we’ve encountered….

In 1992 Dick Cheney said this after the first Gulf War:

“And the question in my mind is how many additional American casualties is Saddam worth?” Cheney said then in response to a question.

“And the answer is not very damned many. So I think we got it right, both when we decided to expel him from Kuwait, but also when the president made the decision that we’d achieved our objectives and we were not going to go get bogged down in the problems of trying to take over and govern Iraq…

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