The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
