WH fires back at Cheney: POTUS knows we're at war but “doesn’t need to beat his chest to prove it"

[jefferson_dem]

Cheney Attacks; White House Hits Back
By PETER BAKER

The White House fired back at former Vice President Dick Cheney on Wednesday, accusing him of making “untrue” allegations against President Obama and charging that the former administration allowed Al Qaeda to thrive while it diverted attention to Iraq.

The latest back and forth escalated an already partisan exchange that has consumed Washington since the attempted terrorist attack on an American passenger jet on Christmas Day. Republicans have attacked Mr. Obama and his administration for not taking terrorism seriously enough while Democrats have accused Republicans of voting against funding for better security.

The skirmish moved to a higher level as Mr. Cheney sent a statement to Politico accusing Mr. Obama of “trying to pretend we are not at war” with terrorists. “We are at war and when President Obama pretends we aren’t, it makes us less safe,” Mr. Cheney said. “Why doesn’t he want to admit we’re at war? It doesn’t fit with the view of the world he brought with him to the Oval Office. It doesn’t fit with what seems to be the goal of his presidency — social transformation — the restructuring of American society.”

The White House has pointed out that the system that missed the would-be bomber was put in place by President George W. Bush and responded sharply to Mr. Cheney on its own Web site on Wednesday afternoon.

“The former Vice President makes the clearly untrue claim that the President — who is this nation’s Commander-in-Chief — needs to realize we are at War,” Dan Pfeiffer, the White House communications director, wrote on a blog posting. “I don’t think anyone realizes this very hard reality more than President Obama.”

Although Mr. Obama has eschewed the Bush-era phrase “war on terror,” arguing that terror is a tactic, not an enemy, Mr. Pfeiffer pointed out that Mr. Obama has repeatedly said the nation is at war with Al Qaeda, even if he “doesn’t need to beat his chest to prove it,” like the last administration.

Mr. Pfeiffer went on to argue that the Bush-Cheney administration’s focus on Iraq allowed Al Qaeda to reconstitute itself not only in the border region of Afghanistan and Pakistan but in Yemen, which seems to be the origin of the latest attempted attack. “Seven years of bellicose rhetoric failed to reduce the threat from al Qaeda and succeeded in dividing this country,” Mr. Pfeiffer wrote. “And it seems strangely off-key now, at a time when our country is under attack, for the architect of those policies to be attacking the President.”

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/cheney-attacks-white-house-hits-back/?src=twt&twt=thecaucus

[Captain Hilts]

1. Love it! So true!

[SeattleGirl]

2. Boo-yeah! I like it! Keep kickin', WH. Cheney needs to STFU!

I especially liked this line from the article:

“Seven years of bellicose rhetoric failed to reduce the threat from al Qaeda and succeeded in dividing this country,” Mr. Pfeiffer wrote. “And it seems strangely off-key now, at a time when our country is under attack, for the architect of those policies to be attacking the President.”


:fistbump:

[CreekDog]

3. "Beat his chest" (in reference to Cheney?)

:rofl:

i guess they were taking aim at his achilles heart. :P

[Zenlitened]

9. LOL. That's what jumped right out at me, too.

:rofl:

[flpoljunkie]

4. Cheney's behavior is irrational and without precedent--a desperate attempt to rewrite prior 8 years!

If anyone deserves indictment in the International Court of Justice in The Hague, it is Cheney and his co-horts!

[BeyondGeography]

5. Perfect

And fuck them.

[impik]

6. A-FUCKING-MEN! About time.

[impik]

7. I like Dan Pfeiffer. He's fierce.

[Clio the Leo]

8. I have large number of DU'ers on ignore...

... who are upset with the President because he said a month ago that we were at war with al qaeda .... Cheney must not have TV in his bunker.

[Adelante]

10. wooOT

Very nice.

[SpartanDem]

11. Nice comeback