Wilkerson: Cheney "Lonely, Paranoid, Frightened"

The night after Colin Powell delivered his infamous argument to the United Nations justifying the invasion of Iraq, Lawrence Wilkerson, his chief of staff, sat down and wrote a letter of resignation. It was, said Wilkerson Friday, " the lowest point in my professional and my personal life."

He stuffed the letter in his desk drawer. And left it there.

"If I have a regret when I go to my grave, it is that I did not resign," said Wilkerson, because of course Powell's speech turned out to be almost entirely false.

Wilkerson told the story during a Friday taping of a town hall debate on torture, filmed at the Newseum for Al Jazeera's "Fault Line" show in Washington, D.C. The show airs on Saturday.

The debate was hosted by Josh Rushing, former military flak and now a top Al Jazeera reporter. It also featured Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.), human rights attorney Jumana Musa and outspoken former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, who formerly ran the unit in charge of capturing Osama bin Laden.

Six years after the UN speech, the group also debated Dick Cheney and his legacy -- and whether he should be prosecuted. Wilkerson told the Qatar-based news network than he thought it was impractical to charge former vice president with a crime, regardless of his own preference. He would rather, he said, see the administration's lawyers disbarred before going after "lonely, paranoid, frightened Dick Cheney."

Scheuer had sharp words for Cheney, too. "I think Mr. Cheney is a despicable, reptilian person," he said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Moran apportioned the blame for torture on the Bush administration generally, but Rushing pressed him to "name names."

"Dick Cheney," said Moran in response. "Bybee [and] the poor lawyer who can't get a job so I'm not going to mention his name." He was referring to Judge Jay Bybee, a chief architect of the legal rationale for the Bush administration's program of torture who is now on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit; and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, still unemployed.

Scheuer, however, rejected Moran's effort to blame Bush and his attorneys. "He's talking about nonsense," said Scheuer, arguing that placing blame solely on the administration obscures the role played by Congress. "Ultimately who's responsible for everything that goes on in the foreign policy realm is Congress. They can cut off money tomorrow."

Ryan Grim is the author of the forthcoming book This Is Your Country On Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America

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Comments

[Treeske]

If the documentary film: Democraty Torture is halfway true, Cheney has good reason to be fearful. The drug cartels are no worse of what that film shows! Shame on the country to elect draft dodgers, none of the real Vets support torture and I put my trust in them, not in yellow bellies!

[HisPetGoat]

"Lonely, Paranoid, Frightened"

Boo hoo.

[Akat1973]

I also think Mr. Cheney is a despicable, reptilian person...............

[polysci101]

Lonely, Paranoid and Frightened. These were the same words used to describe H.I.T.L.E.R's state of mind at the end too.

[mwoman]

Who would have ever imagined that these two would have been compared?

[Woodn88s]

all at once now....LOUDLY........."DI CK, SIT DOWN AND SHUT THE FU* K UP"

[ibsteve2u]

[bq]
"If I have a regret when I go to my grave, it is that I did not resign," said Wilkerson, because of course Powell's speech turned out to be almost entirely false.
[eq]

I do believe that it takes a truly teflon conscience to transform 100,000+ Iraqi and 4100+ American dead into a mere "regret".

[stargazer13]

Dear mod

please release earlier post

[stargazer13]

Lady Justice is blind for a reason

and her sword of justice has been stayed

her scales are now unbalanced

[stargazer13]

Until there is Justice for the unjust act,s

committed in every American,s name and with the use of tax payer monies

there will be no future for our country we have in a sense been deeply wounded

and as we seek justice being denied to us !! by the very men we elected to give us justice !!! we will never move forward for the wound seeps and will not heal it has become so infected it now threatens the health of all

OH AMERICA those who are sick usually seek !!!! to get well !!!!

[knowhelpnow]

Cheney and the bunch are sociopaths/psychopaths, and now that he has started non stop ranting everyone can tell. This bunch should all have mental evaluations, it is to bad they weren't done before they were put in power.
I don't blame Congress, after 9/11 this administration was calling anyone that did not agree with them terrorist, UN-American, etc. and since the primary job of Congress is to get reelected what does anyone expect.
9/11 was used to put as much fear as possible into everyone so this gang of sociopaths/psychopaths could do anything they wanted.

[Cryostatic]

Wait. What?

You don't blame congress for sitting down, shutting up, and going along with everything that was happening, without even so much as a peep of complaint? You don't blame them for putting relection as the top priority? You don't blame them for ignoring injustice in the name of personal security and gain?

The same people who did all of these things are the same people who are running things now. You think they're suddenly going to grow consciences? Start working for the betterment of mankind? Start promoting truth and justice, and the american way?

No, they're going to continue to do whatever they need to do to ensure their own welfare, at any cost.

You don't blame them? I pity you.

[mwoman]

These guys don't need mental evaluations. They're criminals. Difference.

[GGMarks]

The Bush administration - together with Israeli supporters - can take down ANY SENATOR - ANY CONGRESSMAN or Woman.....

should they stray from the official policy of -- ALL MUSLIMS ARE EVIL AND MUST DIE.

The blame goes way beyond Gonzales and an appeal judge. Our government is riddled with operatives for a foreign government - and they manufacture evidence as necessary to advance the interests of Israel over Palestine AND America

[Virtual Deux]

Ultimately who's responsible for everything that goes on in the foreign policy realm is Congress. They can cut off money tomorrow."

Every time I see something like that, I choke. While in the technical sense it is quite true, given that the current point of getting elected is to stay elected, after a campaign of fear mongering and McCarthyism and a ground swell of the sheep, its almost impossible to do it without getting slapped with the paint brush of anti Americanism.

Until we have a Congress composed of people that see it as a break from real professions to serve the People (and you can count the odds of that happening eh?) polls, popular opinion, and above all, cash flow to campaigns are going to be the driving factors of what happens in American Politics.

[leftLibertarian]

Cheney is a criminal and belongs in prison. Now if only the Democrats could grow a spine and put him behind bars (after a fair trial of course) along with fellow criminals Bush, Rice, Wolfowitz, Rumsfeld...

[naeldwyck]

"Lonely, Paranoid, Frightened" - is that another euphemism, like "tired and emotional"?

[Hopeington]

I believe that a lot of people that have committed crimes are lonely, paranoid and frightened. Is that any reason to not prosecute? I don't think so. Jail Cheney, at least he won't be lonely.

[mwoman]

What evidence do you have for that? "Lonely, paranoid, and frightened," commit crimes? I don't think so...