The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
