The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
