Cheney, the Enemy Within
Though this article appeared in Boston Globe on Monday, November 7, 2005,i still enjoy its spirit of democratic criticism. Whoever wishes to understand the key Men in the power hierarchy in the US must not only read such informative and insightful articles, but keep them in his/her mind while assessing the ongoing developments in Washington. The columnist, James Carroll narrates how Mr. Richard Cheney, as George H.W. Bush’s secretary of defense, was
a key man who was responsible for America’s refusal to accommodate the hopeful new spirit of the present age. After the end of cold
war and peace was breaking out all over the world, from the Philippines to South Africa, Ireland, the Middle East, and Central America, Cheney
forged America’s response by initiating the illegal war against Panama--again making the
world more violent and unsafe even for Americans.
He was instrumental in creating the impression in the minds of the Americans that Saddam Hussein was a Hitler, concealing the
fact that he was a former ally of the US. So, Americans remembered the first Gulf War, as justified one. But, it was an unnecessary affirmation of military might as the ground of international order. This was happening precisely when an historic alternative was opening up in the global politics.
His frequent rhetoric on human rights is hypocritical.
having become rich thanks to the oil industry, he was not hesitant or shameful to define America’s Gulf War interest as all about oil. this had insulted the Arab world.
With this one has to add the fact that it was
Cheney who told a shaken President Bush to flee, when the World Trade Center towers were hit in New York, according to the findings of the 9/11 Commission.
Moreover, one must not avoid stating his contribution to his war on poverty. Yes! He simply made the
War on poverty as essentially a war on the poor.
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