The release of the torture report?last week set forth a stormy of accusations, but throughout all of this, the claim (we didn’t believe it) was that then Pres. George W. Bush was completely unaware of?the heinous war crimes that were being committed in our names. Well, enter Dick Cheney…
Former Vice President Dick Cheney was a guest on Meet the Press Sunday and he was an eager beaver about spilling all the beans and throwing his former boss under the bus.
Here is what the report claimed:
According to CIA records, no CIA officer, up to and including CIA Directors George Tenet and Porter Goss, briefed the president on the specific CIA enhanced interrogation techniques before April 2006. By that time, 38 of the 39 detainees identified as having been subjected to the CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques had already been subjected to the techniques.The CIA did not inform the president or vice president of the location of CIA detention facilities other than Country.
Here’s the exchange between Chuck Todd and Dick Cheney on Meet the Press this morning.
?The notion that we were not identified at the White House about what was going on is not true,? said Cheney. ?I sat through a lengthy session in ?04 with the inspector general of the CIA as he reviewed the state of the program at that time. The suggestion, for example, that the president did not know is wrong, it’s a lie and it is not true. We were in fact??
?How was the president briefed? By the CIA or by you?? asked Todd.
?He with was briefed? I was heavily involved as was, especially, the national security council and Conde [Rice]. The president writes as about it in his own book!? Cheney said.
?Well, three pages in his book he talks about it. You were briefed directly, he was briefed indirectly most of the time. Is that fair to say?? asked the host.
?Thats not fair to say,? Cheney pushed back. ?What happened was he and I met every single morning with the director of the CIA, with the national security adviser. Six days a week, we reviewed everything, basically, in the intelligence arena. That’s where we got most of our information, that and the written PDB (President’s Daily Brief).?
?This man knew what we were doing,? Cheney said. ?He authorized it. He approved it. The statement by the Senate Democrats, for partisan purposes, that the president didn’t know what was going on is just a flat-out lie. It’s a cheap shot, piece of political business that was not bipartisan, nor was it involved any discussion with the people involved with the program.?
?Why would you even give that credence?? the former VP asked.
So according to Cheney, Bush knew EVERYTHING. Know what I think? Dick Cheney has been wanting to get even with?Bush for a LONG time. This is the perfect time to do it and sort of look like a kind of FUBAR hero.
Watch the interview below.
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Tiffany Willis is a fifth-generation Texan and the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with ?the least of these? and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. She’s passionate about their struggles. To stay on top of topics she discusses,?like her?Facebook page,?follow her on Twitter, or?connect with her via LinkedIn. She also has?a?grossly neglected personal blog?and a?literary quotes blog that is a labor of love. Find her somewhere and join the discussion.
h/t John Prager at Addicting Info
