Cheney: Israel Did Not Seek U.S. Approval For Invasion

WASHINGTON — Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday that Israel did not seek U.S. approval before a ground invasion against Hamas in the bloodiest Mideast clash in years.

From the White House to Capitol Hill, U.S. officials remained firmly behind Israel. They urged a cease-fire, but put the onus on Hamas, as Israeli troops and tanks cut through the coastal Gaza strip. U.S. lawmakers defended Israel's ground incursion as a justifiable response to Hamas rocket fire on Israel.

Cheney said Israel "didn't seek clearance or approval from us, certainly" before thousands of soldiers pushed into Gaza after nightfall on Saturday.

He did not directly answer whether Israel informed its powerful ally, the U.S., of its plans before launching them. But the ground offensive, which followed a week of punishing aerial raids on Hamas, had been expected as Israeli forces mounted near the border.

"They have said, now, for a period of months _ they told me on my last trip over there _ that they didn't want to have to act, where Gaza was concerned," Cheney said. "They had gotten out of there three years ago. But if the rocketing didn't stop, they felt they had no choice but to take action. And if they did, they would be very aggressive, in terms of trying to take down Hamas. And that's exactly what's happened."

U.S. leaders have carefully noted the consequences of a new war, including a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the death of civilians there. But they point blame one-sidedly on Hamas, which has called for the destruction of Israel and is deemed by the U.S. government to be a terrorist organization.

Sens. Harry Reid and Dick Durbin _ the top two Democrats in the chamber _ and Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell all described Israel's actions as understandable. "I think what the Israelis are doing is very important," Reid said. "I think this terrorist organization, Hamas, has got to be put away. They've got to come to their senses."

Said McConnell: "Hamas is a terrorist organization. Imagine in this country (the U.S.) if somebody from a neighboring country were lobbing shells at our population. We'd do exactly the same thing. I think the Israelis are doing the only thing they can possibly do to defend their population."

The Gaza crisis forced Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to cancel a long-planned trip to China this week. Rice has been making a stream of phone calls to allies in the Mideast and Europe in hopes of fostering a cease-fire in Gaza, but has no plans to visit the Mideast as part of that effort. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte will travel to Beijing on Wednesday in Rice's place to honor 30 years of U.S-China diplomatic ties, the State Department announced Sunday.

Hamas-run Gaza has been largely isolated from the rest of the world since the Islamic militants won parliamentary elections in 2006. Then Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, expelling forces loyal to the moderate Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, who oversees the West Bank.

A senior U.S. defense official said on the day of the invasion that Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was informed in general terms of the ground incursion and its objectives through normal Israeli defense channels. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was referring to confidential U.S.-Israeli contacts Saturday.

The ground invasion and live images of the fighting in Gaza drew international condemnations and dominated news coverage on Arab satellite TV stations, many of which aired footage of wounded Palestinians at hospitals. Hamas threatened to turn Gaza into an Israeli "graveyard."

The new fighting brought the death toll in the Gaza Strip to more than 500 since Dec. 27, according to Palestinian health officials and U.N. officials, who say at least 100 civilians are among the dead.

Cheney spoke on CBS' "Face the Nation," while Reid was on NBC's "Meet the Press" and McConnell and Durbin were on "This Week" on ABC.

Comments

[research]

Cheney Lies to us.,

Then when found out,

Cheney says

"so what.

[crazycloud14]

who is Cheney?

[MalloMel]

And we are supposed to believe anything that Cheney says?

[Palspal]

Israel is far more likely to give the US marching orders than to ask for approval. Cheney, a creep to the end.

[yearlin]

totally agree...no sovreign nation needs anyone else's permission to do anything. America marched into Iraq without the permission of the UN and other allies.

[Whinger]

Dick old man, the Gaza invasion was planned and predited by Israel and the USA long ago!

Take your bag of baloney with you when you go!

[Suzique]

Why should Israel ask permission to defend itself? When did we become "mommy" to the world. Israel knows it has put up with enough from Hamas and it is time to fight back. Maybe all those pro-terrorist protesters I see on tv need to be on the next plane to Gaza to help out. These demonstrations are as stupid as expecting another country to ask for permission for self-defense.

[bruster55]

So, You are saying that Isreal doesnot need permission to attack anyone to defend itself. What world do you live in? We Americans supply Isreall with their weapons. We financially support Isreal. We are their "daddy".
Isreal needs to respect us. The actions of the Isreal government has been quite disrespectful lately.
I hope our new president puts these "war mongers" back into their place.

[gtalkspolitics]

Mr. Cheney How many approvals did you get to invade Iraq?

[Vixter]

I think that the agreement was implicit, since the U.S. hasn't undermined anything that Israel has done in the last god-only-knows how many years.

I wonder just WTF is Israel trying to do to P-E Obama? Who knew that the test that Lieberman & Biden spoke of for any new POTUS would come from Israel. I think that Israel decided that they had better go ahead with the genocide of the Gaza region before the unknown entity of P-E Obama is sworn into office in 16 days. They may have finally come to the realization that not everything they do will be O-K with the new administration.

[BritishColumbian]

Right...how convenient that the latest forms of mass destruction delivered by the US to Israel arrived a month before they invaded. "terrorist" has now been used to dehumanize people much like "jew" was used by Hitler to give them the "right" to "exterminate" people. The voices for Israel on the media are some of the coldest, most dishonest people I have seen as the media "balances" the news. Their latest spin is to draw a comparison between Al Queda and the Taliban and Hamas.

The media who screams "freedom of the press" as they stalk the PE and their family to find out what they are eating but no such outrage when Israel defies its own Supreme Court refusing to all the press in to cover what is actually going on in Gaza.

The invasion of Gaza will embolden extremists as much as the invasion of Iraq and make the world less safe.

[rudiy]

Glad to see you are reading and viewing the unbiased ME and Muslim press. I read them too. I see what the calls Jews and how they do not differentiate between Israelis, Zionists and Jews.
Their is a comparison between Al Qaeda, the Taliban and Hamas. They all call for the destruction of Israel and they all are intolerant of other religions (infidels) and believe convert or die.
Israel did not need the US permission.
When one refuses to recognize you exist and professes your destruction whether it takes 50 years or more (Hamas) and expects you to sit by idly while they lob rockets instead of trying to effectuate a peace knew this was coming.
They see this as good for their public relations in the Muslim world. Maybe not so good for their people, but to them people are expendable for the greater glory of Islam.

[WorkingClass]

The whole round world knows Dick Cheney is a liar.

[atomic]

If Cheney's mouth is moving he's lying.

[LMPE]

Israel doesn't need to ask permission. It knows that the US will always support it no matter what.

[shirleyfeeney]

I nearly spit out my diet coke when I read the headline...

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!

Because we're in Iraq with the world's blessing, right?

Freedom Fries, anyone?

Cheney...you're irrelevant. Go back to your undisclosed location.

Will the last Republican to leave DC please take these morons, Rush Limbaugh, BillO and Ann Coulter with you?

[ebanks84]

Cheney is a p.i.s.s. ant and who cares what he has to say? Leave the world already you cre.ep.!

[thirtyninesteps]

Of course they didn't seek U.S approval. Why would they? They already know they have it.

[lynjs]

Ya think? As long as the US think that they'll get closer to God by backing Israel, they'll continue to look the other way each time Israel does something hideous and not helpful.