Politico’s Allen And VandeHei ‘Interview’ Cheney So That They Can Write His Op-Ed
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/01/politico-cheney/President Obama is expected to announce today that he will order more than 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan as part of his new strategy to end the conflict there. Vice President Dick Cheney has been a constant critic of Obama, particularly over his decision making process on Afghanistan, saying that the President has been “dithering.”
Despite Cheney’s well-known and worn-out attacks on Obama, Politico’s Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei secured an interview with the former vice president in order to inform their readers today of the shocking revelation that Cheney thinks Obama is projecting “weakness” on Afghanistan. The paper’s top reporters sat down with Cheney for a 90-minute interview and transcribed Cheney’s attacks without challenge, criticism, or rebuttal:
Cheney said the president’s “agonizing” about Afghanistan strategy “has consequences for your forces in the field.”
“Every time he delays, defers, debates, changes his position, it begins to raise questions: Is the commander in chief really behind what they’ve been asked to do?”
“Here’s a guy without much experience, who campaigned against much of what we put in place … and who now travels around the world apologizing,” Cheney said. “I think our adversaries — especially when that’s preceded by a deep bow … — see that as a sign of weakness.”
Of course, not much of what Cheney said is news. He’s been the GOP’s lead attack dog on Obama since the White House decided to release memos earlier this year detailing the Bush administration’s authorization of torture.