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CHENEY UNCHAINED

Cheney: Obama 'Wanted to Take Us Down a Peg' in the World

He claims Obama intentionally reduced US influence overseas

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by Mary Noble

Senior Editor t +

Image: screenshot

Dick Cheney seems to have got back on the public-appearance wagon this weekend to pour scorn on Obama's national security decisions.

"I think the President came to power with a worldview that's fundamentally different than mine," Cheney told CBS's Charlie Rose in an extended interview. "The sense that he wanted to reduce US influence in the world. He wanted to take us down a peg."

But there's one area Cheney has only praise for: Obama's drone program. In fact, Cheney expressed unconditional support for the program, including the occasions when Obama has targeted US citizens. "I think it's a good program. And I don't disagree with the basic policy that the Obama administration has pursued in that regard."

Cheney also defended waterboarding, saying he has no regrets: "Absolutely not."

Via Salon.com and Talking Points Memo.
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Is there any truth to Cheney's claim that Obama wanted to reduce US influence overseas?

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209 Comments (view in Forum)

  • falco_alba
    !
    Does he have any idea how the rest of the world sees America? I know people who uncomfortably call themselves Canadian when they are in Europe in order to avoid being laughed at. Pounding our chests and calling ourselves the greatest country on earth doesn't help our international relations, which were destroyed when Bush was in office. Furthermore, the entire world wanted Obama to win against Romney in this last election. Kinda tells you something, doesn't it?
  • earl
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    I lived in Europe for three years and what you describe is incorrect. Europeans envy America because their socialist governments have failed to produce a viable middle class. We were the greatest country in the world but under Obama, we are becoming Greece. That was and is his goal.
  • Denizen_Kate
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    @earl - "We were the greatest country in the world but under Obama, we are becoming Greece. That was and is his goal." Please cite your source for that claim. When did Obama ever say he wanted the U.S. to be like Greece? Or that he was working towards that as a goal?
  • dances-weebles
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    @earl you're wrong. i am an 'american' ex-pat and i can tell you honestly that most nations in the world view the u.s. as a bully... a good portion of the world's population are laughing at 'americans' for their over blown ego, and their 'high moral standard'. the rest are afraid that the u.s. will target them next.
  • CanadianIndy
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    @earl Just as a side note, as it appears my fellow intellectuals have rebuffed all your "points": Living in an area for 3 years, or even 10, does not make you a member of that area/culture. One's upbringing in a society moulds their view of both their own and those around them. An example could be found in accents. Yes, given a long enough time span and lots of practice, one's accent could be erased. But prior to that time, you still sound like where you're /originally/ from.

    Another thing. One person's observations of a select group (said person's friend circle while abroad), as it's almost impossible to get a whole spectrum of opinions during only a 3 year stay, cannot be extrapolated to cover all Europeans. Especially if you only lived in one country. While those in that country may dislike America, those in another may love them.

    As to the comment made about pretending one is from Canada, as a Canadian who's travelled abroad, I can attest to the fact that Canadians are warmly welcomed. I couldn't say however, how Americans are treated though, as I am not one. Though I have heard many a tale of Canadian flags sewn on backpacks just in case...

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  • fridayjones
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    What tool. fool or idiiot actually thinks dickless cheney is relevent......OH, that's right, cbs. Sorry charlie, you have lost my respect!
  • Denizen_Kate
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    I heard one media pundit say yesterday, in response to Cheney's blathering, that what we need from guys like this is less peerage and more disappearage. I wish I could remember who said that. :)
  • Leftofliberal
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    Care to share with us what was our mission in Iraq? What our mission is in Afganistan How Cheney paid for these wars and was in retrospect what did we gain by excreting our presence in the Middle East. They hated us pre war and hate us now. What is this you're so proud of?
  • bsking
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    @Leftofliberal reread the question and then formulate your opinion based on that not on the anti Bush chip you have so far up your a#@ you'll never get it out. And consider yourself lucky I usually don't reply to such drivel. ;-o
  • Leftofliberal
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    @bsking and I asked you what the pegs Cheney thought were worthwhile pursuing we're worth the cost benefit and was there any logic to where he placed us on the world stage
  • bsking
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    @Leftofliberal and I'll ask you what are the benefits of arming the exact same group that attacked us on 9 11 01 ? because that's what this president is doing. are you want to talk about how bad Cheney is Obama's got American troop blood on his hands...

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  • jessejaymes
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    Cheney needs to shut up and go on tour thanking the country that he is not on trial at the Hague for war crimes. The audacity of this piece of shit is beyond belief. Frigging gets 3,500 of our kids killed and 35,000 maimed for the profits of the company (Halliburton) that he was CEO of before becoming president (yeah he was the real president GW was the hand puppet). That man is a war criminal and nothing more.
  • mtkopf
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    I know one Army guy who was stationed in Iraq. He was not allowed to service any a/c units, even though that is what the Army trained him to do. Why? Because halliburton had the contract to do that. So Army spends how much to train this dude for a year and he's not allowed to actually make use of his training.
  • mtkopf
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    @mtkopf Cheney should thank all the young ppl he leapfrogged on the heart transplant waiting list. F*** him I hope he burns in hell!
  • Denizen_Kate
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    Add to that the fact that he should have been convicted of treason for outing one of our covert CIA operatives. I don't think we'll ever know how many people were killed for something this asshat did out of nothing but spite.

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  • Knightkore
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    Lets see first term....President Hussein Obama's World Wide Apology Tour....the second term....if you're not Native American you're from some place else, implying that none of us are really Americans....

    Cheney is spot on....now....if he and President Hussein Obama can go out for a friendly outing of skeet shooting....
  • Zazziness
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    "....if you're not Native American you're from some place else, implying that none of us are really Americans."
    ----------
    No. That's not what he meant, at all. He was saying that all American families were once immigrants and we should remember that when we're talking immigrant policy. Geez.
  • Knightkore
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    @Zazziness Um....no....that still doesn't work either....I'm not an immigrant, my parents weren't, my grandparents, great grandparents....etc. weren't....
  • Leftofliberal
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    Your post is a bit of an oxymoronic statement. By definition, either you are a Native American or you're not, you CANNOT be from somewhere else and be a Native American
    You should take Rocket Science for Politix # 101

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  • Brownie
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    Reducing American influence isn't a good thing. Now, budding into other countries controversies that's a bad thing. Like the middle east. We starting wars in afghan and Iraq. Meanwhile, osama in Pakistan. Get my point.
  • AceLuby
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    Cheney helped double defense spending and started two wars for personal profit. Anyone looking to him for foreign policy advice should be checked out by a doctor.
  • Neo_NtheMatrix
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    This is a weird comment. I'll forgive you for it. Cheney helped keep you and this nation safe for 11 years. His policies helped nab bin Laden. I respect Cheney.
  • Zazziness
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    @Neo_NtheMatrix WTF are you talking about? Cheney (and Bush's) administration said, flat out, that finding Bin Laden was not a priority for them. He didn't keep our nation safe -- our nation was attacked on domestic soil during their watch. He didn't keep our soldiers safe -- he lied to Congress and sent our troops into an unnecessary nightmare in Iraq, resulting in hundreds of thousands of needless deaths of our own people and Iraqis. He should have been tried for crimes against humanity.
  • Yank
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    No matter what you think of Cheney, Bush, or the wars, it is fairly clear that Cheney did not profit from Halliburton’s military contracts after he took office. Once he was elected he sold a chunk of his stock and the remaining Halliburton stock options were placed in a blind trust with all profits, on their eventual sale, going to charity. When all was said and done $7 million was given to Charity.

    P.S. Kerry tried to use the Cheney-Halliburton-Iraq War link in 2004, and it blew up in his face.
  • BelinKS
    !
    Cheney is not irrelevant. He is a former Vice President. He has experience and can see things from a different perspective than we can. The U.S. needs to be seen as the strongest super power! That is a big deterrent to countries that might attack is or our allies if they thought they could get away with it. Hopefully Cheney was just referring to the drones over seas. I would hate to think he agrees with drones flying over our own country and spying on our own citizens.
  • DARSB
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    I wish people would just get off Mr Cheney's back.

    Really, after we were greeted as liberators by the grateful Iraqis who were just sick of Saddam's close ties to Al Qaeda and told us right where the weapons of mass destruction, including all that enriched uranium, was located, it was gratifying to see the way the Iraqi oil profits were signed over to the US to pay all our military costs. And all of that in just six months.

    The man's a saint, I tell you - or at least, he has the heart of a saint.
  • Tralee
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    He absolutely did, the progressive think is that the US was too big for it's britches, we were too arrogant telling the rest of the free world how to act, telling the rest of the free world that we were powerful and the world's police. Of course, it was all true and the rest of the world, other than that wannabe's China, Russia and the Islamists, were perfectly happy with that, we spent on defense for the world and they could spend on entitlements. What the "If we would only make nice" crowd doesn't get, is that we can make nice 24/7 and they will still hate us, they hate our freedoms, they hate our free press, our freedom of religion, freedom of speech and they sure as heck hate the women for showing a face or a leg or a hand or whatever it takes for these Islamists to lose control and start to rape and pillage women. As long as they feared us, we were safe from their sneaky warfare tactics, safe in our homes, now that they know we have a very weak president who will not take action, we will get more Benghazi's, more embassies will be attacked, more Americans either kidnapped or killed and more terrorism directed toward us. When we have the next 9/11, and we will as long as Mr. Leading from behind, if leading at all, is in charge, there will be one, be sure to sent a nicely worded thank you card to Obama. The same president who on the day Benghazi was attacked, took ONE call, and went to bed to get his rest, he had a fund raiser the next day and couldn't be bothered to see if all was well, if we found our Ambassador and if any American's were killed. Not ONE further communication was made by Obama, not a phone call to see what the progress was, what was happening or if all was well. Nope. Barry went to bed and got up refreshed and flew to a fund raiser, much more important.
  • Raptor
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    Another comment from a twisted bitter old white man, the poster child of the republican party who preaches hate and divides the country with propaganda.
  • harold_lloyd
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    Cheney's "'Wanted to Take Us Down a Peg' is my 'Wanted us to quit acting like a schoolyard bully"

    To Cheny and his ilk, restraint is unAmerican, cowardly. Which explains Iraq...
  • Chromalord
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    Of course the only thing Cheney is on board with is the use of drones; the only thing that kills innocent people under the control of our commander & chief. This doesn't surprise me coming from the man who shot his "friend" in the face.
  • seedtick
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    Barack Husssein Obama is not the only idealog who wants to lower our influence around the world. I think that he actually believes he can kiss asses until the world is at peace. We stand leaderless and embarassed before the world.
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