George Will To Cheney: You Should Have Dithered Before Invading Iraq (VIDEO)

Conservative columnist George Will went after former Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday, saying the Bush administration could have used some "dithering" before they invaded Iraq.

Will was responding to the VP's widely-circulated comment that President Obama was "dithering" on Afghanistan and putting troops in danger. On the contrary, Will said, it was hasty decisions that put people at risk.

"A bit of dithering might have been in order before we went into Iraq in pursuit of non-existent weapons of mass destruction," Will said on ABC's "This Week. "For a representative of the Bush administration to accuse someone of taking too much time is missing the point. We have much more to fear in this town from hasty than from slow government action."

Watch:

Will broke from conventional conservative thinking on Afghanistan when he wrote in August that it was time for the U.S. to leave that country.

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Comments

[kkrimmer]

11:45 PM on 10/28/2009

Iraq: Total US Killed – 4354
Afghanistan: Total US Killed – 886
Source: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/casualty.pdf

Cost of Wars since 2001:
$925+ Billion
Source: http://costofwar.com/

The true story of the history of the recent US war in Iraq.
WMD were never the issue.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/iraq/view/

RUMSFELD'S WAR EXPOSED
Across seven administrations they have shared a belief in the importance of
American military power. Today, they are Bush's war cabinet...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/pentagon/

CHASING WMD's - WHAT LED UP TO THE WAR
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/wmd/

Bush: No Saddam Links To 9/11
President Distances Himself From Remarks By Vice President Cheney
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/18/iraq/main584234.shtml

THE LOST YEAR IN IRAQ
Rumsfeld, Bremmer - arrogance, incompetence, stupidity.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/

[Patrician]

09:12 PM on 10/28/2009

I felt a bit cheated. I thought the video would be about George Will talking about how Cheney could have dithered a bit longer on the decision to go into the Iraqi war where there were no weapons of mass destruction. But as long a I could stomach the video, it was a showcase for Fox News person on the panel. It was no one's fault, really. It is just that the yapping dog is all one hears if it is in the room.

I yearned to hear Will say something sensible. Yearned. But he did not while I heard him. He basically said it was fine for Fox to trash Obama. I forget his reasons, because they did not fit into a pattern of logic in the mind. May I say that I don't care for George Will? If I can't, forget I said it, please.

[repearwo]

12:49 PM on 10/28/2009

The issue is there was no room for "dithering". The decision to invade Iraq was made long before Bush even was the candidate. Will knows this or he is a completely deluded person (Quite possible as denial is a key element of being a conservative).

The New American Century folks, most of whom were in the 'Bush" administration, including Cheney, had already identified this as the first step in their grand plan, a complete delusion, to make the US the next empire.

When they took office in 2001, it was not if it was how and when. 911 gave them the cover to go after their original target even though it had nothing to do with Iraq. Cheney was not lying to us when he said Saddam was behind it, he was lying to himself.

If we do not understand why we got into Iraq we can not avoid things like this in the future.

[jimpager]

12:31 PM on 10/28/2009

Gosh,

You folks make it hard for anyone to agree with you...Here a conservative shows some
integrity and you trash him too.

Thank you George Will. I don't aften agree with you. But it should command respect
when you are big enough to call down your own people when they are wrong.

[sculptor]

10:24 PM on 10/28/2009

You're making a really broad assumption about the uniformity of the posters here... I for one think Cheney really deserved Will's comment and I only hope George can see through some of the other current balderdash being dished out by the right and call them on it. Many people (thankfully) will never respect what conservatives believe in but it would be a better country if the conservatives toned down the divisiveness and stopped using unscrupulous tactics such as spreading big lies. If they did that maybe the right and left could start respecting each other as people again. A comment like this from Mr Will is a first step

[coolhead]

12:26 PM on 10/28/2009

In view of George's apparent attempt at apology for supporting the Iraq invasion (along with the landslide of worldwide experts), I am disappointed with his apple/oranges logic flaw. Dithering before a war is OK. Dithering during a war can and arguably usually does result in unnecessary deaths.
Is anyone arguing that we leave troop levels where they are? Get in or get out. Don't repeat the Rumsfeld mistake of trying to do a war on the cheap.

[GammySparkles]

11:43 AM on 10/28/2009

Bull!

[JohnHKennedy]

10:54 AM on 10/28/2009

We sent our troops to Afghanistan in retaliation for the 9-11 attacks.

Bush and Cheney failed to honor the victims of 9-11 when they Lied About WMD In Iraq to get our Congress to allow them to invade Iraq, a country which had nothing to do with 9-11.

Because of the illegal Iraq Invasion, troops and material were diverted from the war in Afghanistan to Iraq. As a result Bush and Cheney allowed Osama and many of his followers to escape to Pakistan allowing them to hide in a not so friendly country armed with nuclear weapons. When that happened the war in Afghanistan was essentially lost. The only end we gained was punishment for 9-11. It is time to leave that backward country and perhaps offer them some kind of Marshall Plan to rebuild.

It is time to leave Afghanistan
and it is also time to

PROSECUTE THE WMD LIES & TORTURE
of the Bush Administration.

SIGN the PETITION
calling for Prosecution at ANGRYVOTERS.ORG

http://ANGRYVOTERS.Org

[brandon102]

09:43 AM on 10/28/2009

My GOD! Not being up to the minute on the ACORN story!

I'm thinking Fox will be the ones laughing when they show off their Pulitzers and Nobel prizes for their journalism on this incredibly important story! That no one else cares about in the lease. Except the teabaggers, tinfoil hat crowd and, of course, Fox.

[edvince]

02:00 AM on 10/28/2009

the media is so hungry for ratings and Cheney's comments are only $$$ for them. Why else would media cater to him

[JaCar]

12:21 AM on 10/28/2009

Whoa, whoa, whoa...hold on a second. Didn't Dick Cheney tell us in 2002 that, "..the Taliban is out of business"? Could he have been wrong?

[hippie4ever]

11:17 PM on 10/27/2009

Oh no, it's invade, plunder, deny, forget.

This is a brief history of modern warfare.

[darrent91]

10:03 PM on 10/27/2009

Hey George Will, maybe YOU should have dithered before the U.S. invaded Iraq instead of publishing lies about WMDs.

[Wood]

12:23 PM on 10/28/2009

well said..

he jumped on board to support this fabrication, now he's criticizing his buddies????

[Paralogos]

08:37 PM on 10/27/2009

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day...

[Angry23]

08:13 PM on 10/27/2009

I hate when a conservative says something that sounds nearly like something a decent person would say and we act so grateful, like when McCain came out against torture. It shouldn't be such a big moment, but our surprised reaction shows us how morally bankrupt the right really is. Just because we agree with them once in a blue moon means nothing, they are still arguing for a world that puts profit over people and I will not say we have common ground just because it turns out we are both against child murder or war crimes. You shouldn't either.

[Bushwhacked]

12:21 AM on 10/28/2009

Agree.

[RichardD]

07:36 PM on 10/27/2009

George Will is one of the few interesting real journalists around. He is articulate and direct without any b.s. But, I do not agree with him very much. This time I do.
Cheney, to me, is a war criminal. He was a 'cancer on the Presidency' to use John Dean's words. He does not have the standing to give any credible commentary about governance of America.
Will has written one of the top few sports books - ever - about baseball - called "Men at Work". To get a further insight on George Will, I recommend you borrow a copy from your local library and read it.