The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
