The Lawyer vs. the Liar

People judging the Vice Presidential Debate on demeanor and talking points miss the point. While if taken in isolation, VP Dick Cheney held his own but only by flatly denying Sen. John Edwards' charges - denying known facts and reality - while lashing out with lies about Edwards and his running mate John Kerry with increasingly testy whoppers.

Early in the debate, Edwards set the tone: "Mr. Vice President, you are still not being straight with the American people. I mean, the reality you and George Bush continue to tell people, first, that things are going well in Iraq -- the American people don't need us to explain this to them, they see it on their television every single day. We lost more troops in September than we lost in August; lost more in August than we lost in July; lost more in July than we lost in June." Nothing Cheney said or did bridged this huge and growing credibility gap.

The Lawyer threw down the challenge, and Dick Cheney - the Liar - lost no time proving that Sen. Edwards was correct: The gap between Cheney/Bush rhetoric and reality is enormous, growing, and getting more dangerous every day. Cheney's misstatements and lies about subjects large and small accumulated at a rapid pace belied by Cheney's languid, almost lifeless speaking style. Cheney recklessly lied when he claimed he'd never met Edwards before that evening. That's not a big deal, except that it demonstrates the arrogance and/or delusional mind-set afflicting Cheney.

Actually, confirmation of Cheney's dishonest proclivities came even before Edwards had a chance to speak. Moderator Gwen Ifill's first question mentioned an intelligence report that Cheney ordered showing no link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, that "Paul Bremer, the former head of the Coalition Provisional Authority, gave a speech in which he said that we have never had enough troops on the ground," and Donald Rumsfeld said he has not seen any hard evidence of a link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein."

She asked Cheney about "new developments in Iraq, especially having to do with the administration's handling" and "Was this approved - of a report that you requested that you received a week ago that showed there was no connection between Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Saddam Hussein?"

In reply Cheney evaded and lied. Cheney somehow managed to lie twice on this one specific point. He lied denying that former and current Bush/Cheney officials contradict unrealistically optimistic - if not delusional - Administration propaganda. He also lied when he denied he'd ever linked Iraq to the al Qaeda terror attacks. But first Cheney hemmed and hawed:

"It's important to look at all of our developments in Iraq within the broader context of the global war on terror. And, after 9/11, it became clear that we had to do several things to have a successful strategy to win the global war on terror, specifically that we had to go after the terrorists where ever we might find them, that we also had to go after state sponsors of terror, those who might provide sanctuary or safe harbor for terror."

Edwards seized on this in answer to the third question, pointing out that Cheney lobbied to release state sponsors of terror from sanctions, and as CEO of Halliburton Cheney actually helped terrorist states including Iran, Libya and Iraq - all in violation of US policy and/or law. As Edwards put it: "The vice president just said that we should focus on state sponsors of terrorism. Iran has moved forward with its nuclear weapons program. They're more dangerous today than they were four years ago."

As Edwards explained, "This vice president has been an advocate for over a decade for lifting sanctions against Iran, the largest state sponsor of terrorism on the planet. It's a mistake. We should not only not lift them, we should strengthen those sanctions." Then Edwards proved that Bush/Cheney national security policy makes Americans less safe because "North Korea has moved forward with their nuclear weapons program, gone from one to two nuclear weapons to six to eight nuclear weapons."

Edwards effectively showed Bush and Cheney utterly failed with regard to what Cheney said is "The biggest threat we faced today" by making it more likely that terrorists could attack us by "smuggling a nuclear weapon or a biological agent into one of our own cities and threatening the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans."

Cheney insisted, "What we did in Iraq was exactly the right thing to do. If I had it to recommend all over again, I would recommend exactly the same course of action." Cheney further emphasized he learned nothing from his failed policies. Even knowing the catastrophe he caused, he would not have deployed enough troops to prevent hundreds of US deaths and 1000s of casualties. He would not have changed anything at all because he claims all of the Bush/Cheney Iraq policies were perfect: "we did exactly the right thing."

Edwards schooled Cheney in military and foreign policy reality: "[I]t's not just me that sees the mess in Iraq. There are Republican leaders, like John McCain, like Richard Lugar, like Chuck Hagel, who have said Iraq is a mess and it's getting worse. And when they were asked why, Richard Lugar said because of the incompetence of the administration. What Paul Bremer said yesterday is they didn't have enough troops to secure the country. They also didn't have a plan to win the peace. They also didn't put the alliances together to make this successful."

The Senator did what Cheney would not or could not do. He looked the American People in the eye, and told us the truth: "We need a fresh start. We need a president who will speed up the training of the Iraqis, get more staff in for doing that. We need to speed up the reconstruction so the Iraqis see some tangible benefit. We need a new president who has the credibility, which John Kerry has, to bring others into this effort." As expected, although still disappointing to anyone who wants to see our troops home safely, Cheney stayed steeped in deep denial claiming, "We've made significant progress in Iraq."

In apparent confusion, Cheney flip-flopped from one sentence to the next, first claiming "We've stood up a new government that's been in power now only 90 days" but almost immediately contradicting himself by admitting, "but the point of success in Iraq will be reached when we have turned governance over to the Iraqi people." Which is it? Cheney also grossly exaggerated at best when he bragged; "We also are actively, rapidly training Iraqis to take on the security responsibility. Those two steps are ... well in hand, well under way." No impartial observer agrees with that glowing assessment, and as Edwards showed even some top Republicans concede this is simply not the case.

Edwards also zeroed in on one of Cheney's biggest and most persistent lies: "Mr. Vice President, there is no connection between the attacks of September 11th and Saddam Hussein. The 9/11 Commission has said it. Your own secretary of state has said it. And you've gone around the country suggesting that there is some connection. There is not. And in fact the CIA is now about to report that the connection between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein is tenuous at best. And, in fact, the secretary of defense said yesterday that he knows of no hard evidence of the connection. We need to be straight with the American people."

Edwards is correct. After all these lies the American People and our allies and enemies alike cannot take Cheney or Bush at their word. The Senator remained polite, even though he could have added George W. Bush to the long list of Administration Officials who reluctantly concede Saddam Hussein did not attack us on 9/11/01. Polls show that 2 out of 3 Republicans just don't understand this fact. Either Dick Cheney is among the confused or else he is trying to deceive voters on this critically important point.

Moderator Ifill tried to balance the debate, echoing Bush/Cheney talking points: "You and Senator Kerry have said that the war in Iraq is the wrong war at the wrong time. Does that mean that if you had been president and vice president that Saddam Hussein would still be in power?" This question contains a false premise known as the excluded middle. It assumes that the only way to remove or disarm Saddam necessarily involved lying to the American People and the world, alienating our allies, squandering hundreds of $billions while getting 1000s of American Troops killed or injured by madly rushing into war without adequate plans or preparation. Edwards was clearly ready for this question:

"Here's what it means: It means that Saddam Hussein needed to be confronted. John Kerry and I have consistently said that. That's why we voted for the resolution. But it also means it needed to be done the right way. And doing it the right way meant that we were prepared; that we gave the weapons inspectors time to find out what we now know, that in fact there were no weapons of mass destruction; that we didn't take our eye off the ball, which are al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, the people who attacked us on September the 11th." This exposed the fundamental Bush/Cheney failure to eliminate or even contain the most deadly threat facing America. Bush has reluctantly moved on to admit that al Qaeda attacked us. Saddam did not. Astonishingly, Cheney continues to lie about this!

Edwards hammered away at this flaw, this fissure between reality and Cheney's lies: "Now, remember, we went into Afghanistan, which, by the way, was the right thing to do. That was the right decision. And our military performed terrifically there. But we had Osama bin Laden cornered at Tora Bora. We had the 10th Mountain Division up in Uzbekistan available. We had the finest military in the world on the ground. And what did we do? We turned -- this is the man who masterminded the greatest mass murder and terrorist attack in American history. And what did the administration decide to do? They gave the responsibility of capturing and/or killing Saddam -- I mean Osama bin Laden to Afghan warlords who, just a few weeks before, had been working with Osama bin Laden." This was Edwards' worst flub, but the message still came through: at the moment of truth, Bush/Cheney trusted the wrong people and failed. And Cheney still lies about it.

To make this even more clear, Edwards relentlessly cast Cheney and Bush as failures: "Our point in this is not complicated: We were attacked by al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. We went into Afghanistan and very quickly the administration made a decision to divert attention from that and instead began to plan for the invasion of Iraq. And these connections -- I want the American people to hear this very clearly. Listen carefully to what the vice president is saying. Because there is no connection between Saddam Hussein and the attacks of September 11th -- period. The 9/11 Commission has said that's true. Colin Powell has said it's true. But the vice president keeps suggesting that there is. There is not. And, in fact, any connection with al Qaeda is tenuous at best."

Ifill gave Cheney 90 seconds to respond, and true to his nature he lied by implying his opponent was wrong: "The senator has got his facts wrong. I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11, but there's clearly an established Iraqi track record with terror." Immediately after the debate, some news shows ran tape of Cheney on Meet the Press saying there was such a connection - one of several times he made that utterly discredited claim. Why would Cheney blatantly lie to the American People this way?

Why would he do so, knowing that Edwards opened by putting doubts about Cheney's credibility front and center in this debate? This indicates that either Cheney is so "sure of himself" he doesn't think he has to tell the truth, or he cannot tell the difference between lies and facts. Once well-down the path of lying, Cheney - like many liars - could not find any way out. So he plunged ahead embroidering and elaborating on his lies:

"And the point is that that's the place where you're most likely to see the terrorists come together with weapons of mass destruction, the deadly technologies that Saddam Hussein had developed and used over the years." This although Bush/Cheney weapons expert David Kay admitted Cheney's view is unfounded.

Under oath, Kay testified: "Let me begin by saying, we were almost all wrong [about Iraqi Weapons of Mass Destruction], and I certainly include myself here [and] It turns out that we were all wrong, probably in my judgment, and that is most disturbing." Kay denied disturbing, widely reported accounts that Dick Cheney took an active role coercing and forcing officials to tailor their "intelligence" to support Cheney's view that Iraq was an imminent threat, but incredibly blamed "the [Bush/Cheney] failure on April 9 to establish immediately physical security in Iraq - the unparalleled looting and destruction" for hiding evidence of Iraq's WMD program. Kay said, "It had been the regime's. The regime is gone. I'm going to go take the gold toilet fixtures and everything else imaginable." See Transcript: David Kay at Senate hearing, January 28, 2004: http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/28/kay.transcript/

No one is perfect, and people do make mistakes in good faith. David Kay can admit he was wrong and the Administration he still loyally supports failed. Why can't Cheney admit these evident facts? Instead, after empowering terrorist states Libya and Iran, and doing business with Saddam Hussein, Cheney attacked his rivals dishonestly:

"Now, the fact of the matter is, the big difference here, Gwen, is they are not prepared to deal with states that sponsor terror. They've got a very limited view about how to use U.S. military forces to defend America.... It's a consistent pattern over time of always being on the wrong side of defense issues. A little tough talk in the midst of a campaign or as part of a presidential debate cannot obscure a record of 30 years of being on the wrong side of defense issues." Later Cheney reprised his hypocrisy, "Your rhetoric, Senator, would be a lot more credible if there was a record to back it up. There isn't. And you cannot use 'talk tough' during the course of a 90-minute debate in a presidential campaign to obscure a 30-year record in the United States Senate and, prior to that by John Kerry, who has consistently come down on the wrong side of all the major defense issues that he's faced as a public official."

Once more, Sen. Edwards caught Cheney misleading Americans. "I want to go back to what the vice president just said, because it's a continuation of the things he's been doing, unfortunately, on the campaign trail; it's a continuation of what he began his first answer with tonight. John Kerry has voted for the biggest military appropriations bill in the country's history. John Kerry has voted for the biggest intelligence appropriations in the country's history. This vice president, when he was secretary of defense, cut over 80 weapons systems, including the very ones he's criticizing John Kerry for voting against. These are weapons systems, a big chunk of which, the vice president himself suggested we get rid of after the Cold War."

Edwards pounded away at Cheney's delusions and explained the facts behind Bush / Cheney sound bites: "The reality is that John Kerry has consistently supported the very men that he served with in Vietnam and led. On the $87 billion, it was clear at the time of that vote that they had no plan to win the peace. We're seeing the consequences of that every day on the ground right now. We stood up and said: For our troops, we must have a plan to win the peace. We also thought it was wrong to have a $20 billion fund out of which $7.5 billion was going to go to a no-bid contract for Halliburton, the vice president's former company. It was wrong then. It's wrong now."

In denial of his record, Cheney projected his own failures onto John Kerry by saying, "specifically that I don't believe he has the qualities we need in a commander in chief because I don't think, based on his record, that he would pursue the kind of aggressive policies that need to be pursued if we're going to defeat these terrorists. We need to battle them overseas so we don't have to battle them here at home. [H]is judgment's flawed, and the record's there for anybody who wants to look at it. In 1984, when he ran for the Senate he opposed, or called for the elimination of a great many major weapons systems that were crucial to winning the Cold War and are important today to our overall forces.... The problem we have is that, if you look at his record, he doesn't display the qualities of somebody who has conviction."

As Edwards explained, "John Kerry has been absolutely clear and consistent from the beginning that we must stay focused on the people who attacked us; that Saddam Hussein was a threat that needed to be addressed directly; that the weapons inspectors needed to have time to do their job. Had they had time to do their job, they would have discovered what we now know, that in fact Saddam Hussein had no weapons, that in fact Saddam Hussein has no connection with 9/11, that in fact Saddam Hussein has little or no connection with al Qaeda."

He added, "What we know is that the president and the vice president have not done the work to build the coalition that we need -- dramatically different than the first Gulf War. We know that they haven't done it, and we know they can't do it. They didn't, by the way, just reject the allies going into lead- up to the war. They also rejected them in the effort to do the reconstruction in Iraq, and that has consequences. What we believe is, as part of our entire plan for Iraq -- and we have a plan for Iraq. They have a plan for Iraq too: more of the same. We have a plan for success. And that plan includes speeding up the training of the military. We have less than half of the staff that we need there to complete that training."

Given 30 seconds to respond, the best Cheney could offer was, "Well, Gwen, I think the record speaks for itself." Unfortunately for Cheney, it does. The record shows as Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney demanded Congress slash weapons programs. Now, he tries to blame Sen. Kerry for trusting Cheney's sworn statements to the Senate under oath. This confirms that Cheney either lied under oath when he said America didn't need several weapons programs - and thereby undermined our national security - or else Cheney is one of the most audacious hypocrites in American history. Either way, Cheney shows astonishing dishonesty and /or delusion rendering him unfit to make national security policy - or any policy.

Cheney also showed that said about Kerry and Edwards is true of Cheney and Bush, but not applicable to their opponents: "And they give absolutely no indication, based on that record, of being wiling to go forward and aggressively pursue the war on terror with a kind of strategy that will work, that will defeat our enemies and will guarantee that the United States doesn't again get attacked by the likes of al Qaeda." After all, Bush and Cheney "out-sourced" the hunt for bin Laden and other terrorists to unreliable enemy warlords in Afghanistan. Bush promised to bring back bin Laden "dead or alive" over three years ago and failed.

Confronted with this evidence of utter failure - of will as well as ability, Cheney did what liars do. He lied and tried to blame other people. "Gwen, we've never let up on Osama bin Laden from day one. We've actively and aggressively pursued him. We've captured or killed thousands of al Qaeda in various places around the world and especially in Afghanistan. We'll continue to very aggressively pursue him, and I'm confident eventually we'll get him. The key to success in Afghanistan has been, again, to go in and go after the terrorists, which we've done, and also take down the Taliban regime which allowed them to function there, in effect sponsors, if you will, of the al Qaeda organization."

Most Americans know that almost all of this bragging is exaggerated if not completely made up. Not satisfied with just lying, Cheney also tried to blame Edwards for his own Administration's failure: "John Edwards, two and a half years ago, six months after we went into Afghanistan announced that it was chaotic, the situation was deteriorating, the warlords were about to take over [b]ut they're making significant progress. We have President Karzai, who is in power." In fact, Edwards was correct. The situation is still chaotic in Afghanistan. Interim President Karzai is barely more than mayor of Kabul. The Taliban and the warlords are reasserting their vicious power.

Cheney offered excuses and empty promises as if they were facts: "The fact is, as we go forward in Afghanistan, we will pursue Osama bin Laden and the terrorists as long as necessary. We're standing up Afghan security forces so they can take on responsibility for their own security." Why the long delay between bin Laden's mass murder of 3000 Americans and sustained efforts to bring him to justice? Why would Cheney advocate a reckless rush to attack Iraq while al Qaeda plots to kill more Americans?

All this exposed Cheney's preposterous claims as lies, "We've made enormous progress in Afghanistan, in exactly the right direction, in spite of what John Edwards said two and a half years ago. He just got it wrong." No, Edwards got it correct. Cheney lied again. As the Senator explained, "Someone did get it wrong. But it wasn't John Kerry and John Edwards. They got it wrong. When we had Osama bin Laden cornered, they left the job to the Afghan warlords. They then diverted their attention from the very people who attacked us, who were at the center of the war on terror, and so Osama bin Laden is still at large." Cheney cannot deny any of that, so he attacked Kerry with made up lies and intentionally misconstrued comments.

Edwards corrected the record: "I want to go back to something the vice president said just a minute ago, because these distortions are continuing. He said that -- made mention of this global test. What John Kerry said -- and it's just as clear as day to anybody who was listening -- he said: We will find terrorists where they are and kill them before they ever do harm to the American people, first. We will keep this country safe. He defended this country as a young man, he will defend this country as president of the United States. He also said very clearly that he will never give any country veto power over the security of the United States of America. Now, I know the vice president would like to pretend that wasn't said, and the president would too. But the reality is it was said."

In case anyone still accepted Cheney's delusional assessments, Edwards explained, "Here's what's actually happened in Afghanistan, regardless of this rosy scenario that they paint on Afghanistan, just like they do with Iraq. What's actually happened is they're now providing 75 percent of the world's opium. Not only are they providing 75 percent of the world's opium, large-cut parts of the country are under the control of drug lords and warlords. Big parts of the country are still insecure. And the reality is the part of Afghanistan, eastern Afghanistan, where Osama bin Laden is, is one of the hardest places to control and the most insecure, Gwen."

Cheney, unable to rebut these facts confirming his failure, suffered a flashback: "Twenty years ago we had a similar situation in El Salvador" and flatly stated that proved the failed policies he advocates "will apply in Afghanistan, and it will apply as well in Iraq." If Cheney weren't such a pathological liar, if he weren't so dishonest and delusional, we might be able to rely on his honesty and credibility. Cheney squandered that respect by lying to the American People over and over and over about matters great and small.

By contrast, Sen. Edwards and Sen. Kerry will tell the truth and do what's best to keep America safe. Edwards quoted Kerry, "We will never give anyone a veto over the security of the United States of America" and pledged a return to "the proud tradition of the United States of America and presidents of the United States of America for the last 50 to 75 years. First, we're going to actually tell the American people the truth. We're going to tell them the truth about what's happening. We're not going to suggest to them that things are going well in Iraq or anyplace else when, in fact, they're not. We're going to make sure that the American people know the truth about why we are using force and what the explanation for it is. And it's not just the American people. We're also going to make sure that we tell the world the truth. Because the reality is, for America to lead, for America to do what it's done for 50 years before this president and vice president came into office, it is critical that we be credible."

Bush and Cheney fail because they don't understand what Edwards and Kerry know: "It is critical that they believe that when America takes action, they can trust what we're doing, what we say, what we say at the United Nations, what we say in direct conversations with leaders of the world -- of other countries. They need to know that the credibility of the United States is always good, because they will not follow us without that. And unfortunately, we're seeing the consequences of that right now. It's one of the reasons that we're having so much difficulty getting others involved in the effort in Iraq."

Cheney and Bush don't even seem to understand that you cannot lead by misleading, that America - or any nation - cannot prosper by building and hiding behind walls of lies and delusion. As Edwards explained - and Cheney lied by denying - American has "taken 90 percent of the coalition causalities. American taxpayers have borne 90 percent of the costs of the effort in Iraq. And we see the result of there not being a coalition: The first Gulf war cost America $5 billion. We're at $200 billion and counting. John Kerry will never give up control over the security of the United States of America to any other country. We will not outsource our responsibility to keep this country safe."

Cheney lied again claiming, "Well, Gwen, the 90 percent figure is just dead wrong. When you include the Iraqi security forces that have suffered casualties, as well as the allies, they've taken almost 50 percent of the casualties in operations in Iraq, which leaves the U.S. with 50 percent, not 90 percent. With respect to the cost, it wasn't $200 billion. You probably weren't there to vote for that. But $120 billion is, in fact, what has been allocated to Iraq. The rest of it's for Afghanistan and the global war on terror." But Cheney knows or should know his Administration keeps moving funds and forces ear-marked for Afghanistan into Iraq, and demanded more than $75 billion for Iraq on top of that.

Cheney's lies, delusions and deceptions go on and on, but the point is clear. Bush and Cheney failed to keep us safe. Cheney - who complained that Edwards missed a few votes - was entrusted to lead the Anti-Terrorism Task Force, but never bothered to convene a single meeting. Even after 9/11, Bush and Cheney lost sight of the real enemy - Osama and al Qaeda - in their mad rush to attack Iraq. Still, Cheney hypocritically accused John Kerry of lacking "the conviction to successfully carry through on the war on terror." Bush and Cheney already proved they can't do the job, they lack the skills, the will, and the conviction to protect America from ruthless killers most people call terrorists, but which Cheney calls his business partners.

Edwards responded, closing this case: "What the vice president has just said is just a complete distortion. The American people saw John Kerry on Thursday night. They don't need the vice president or the president to tell them what they saw. They saw a man who was strong, who had conviction, who is resolute, who made it very clear that he will do everything that has to be done to find terrorists, to keep the American people safe. He laid out his plan for success in Iraq, made it clear that we were committed to success in Iraq. We have to be, because we have troops on the ground there and because they have created a haven for terrorists." Cheney had no answer to this, just as Bush and Cheney have no answers for Americans on the economy, jobs, health care, education and more. Most importantly, Cheney could not defend his failure to defend America, so he tried to lie about Kerry and Edwards. America can and must do better than this.

For above quotes, see Vice Presidential Debate transcript: http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/10/05/debate.transcript/index.html

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