Dick Cheney Memoir: VP Says He Urged Bush To Bomb Syria

WASHINGTON -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney writes in his new memoir that President George W. Bush rejected his advice in 2007 to bomb a suspected nuclear reactor site in Syria.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Cheney says he was "a lone voice" for military action against Syria. Other advisers were reluctant, Cheney says, because of "the bad intelligence we had received about Iraq's stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction" before the 2003 invasion of that country.

The Israelis bombed the Syrian site later in 2007.

Cheney's autobiography, "In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir," also discusses his history of health problems, including multiple heart attacks. In an interview Wednesday with NBC News, Cheney said he had a secret resignation letter signed and stored in a safe in case he became incapacitated.

Cheney said he signed the resignation letter in March 2001, about two months after taking office. Only Bush and one of the vice president's staff members knew the letter existed.

In his book, Cheney writes that he was unconscious for weeks after heart surgery in 2010, The Times reported.

The newspaper said Cheney's book includes criticism of other members of Bush's administration. He accuses former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of naivete and says he believed former Secretary of State Colin Powell tried to undermine Bush "by criticizing administration policy to people outside the government." Powell's resignation after the 2004 election "was for the best," Cheney writes.

And he says former CIA Director George Tenet's decision to resign in 2004 – "when the going got tough" – was "unfair to the president."

"In My Time" will be published next week by Simon & Schuster.

Comments

[Arn Arn]

11:02 AM on 09/11/2011

War criminal. Cheney, Bush & Rumsfeld need to be held accountable!

[sthad]

11:20 AM on 09/01/2011

This sob wants to sell his book to make money,even if he has to lie through his teeth. The guy has no morals & never did. The best thing we can do is NOT TO BUY HIS BOOK.

[isb782]

06:44 AM on 09/01/2011

Yeah we know you did; there is seldom anything the clown did not do without your approval. I wish you, him and rest of his crones minus Colin Powell life time of hell.

[PhilipTaylor]

02:18 AM on 08/30/2011

Criminal Lawyers heads are exploding!

[PhilipTaylor]

02:17 AM on 08/30/2011

I was “a lone voice” for military action against Syria - Other advisers were reluctant because of "the bad intelligence we had received about Iraq's stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction" before the 2003 invasion.

 -- Cheney in 2007 to Bush and not long after Israel attacked
 

Clearly flawed data never stopped Cheney doing what he wanted done!

[75thRanger]

08:12 PM on 08/29/2011

We should have.

RLTW

[wom122]

11:11 PM on 08/27/2011

Bomb first, think and deal with consequences later.
Cut taxes for the rich.

I have the feeling that would pretty much summarize his memoirs.

[elizabeth gerteiny]

04:32 PM on 08/27/2011

On the Publication of the Memoirs of Mssrs. Bush, Rumsfeld and Cheney

They heard the rhythmic rum tum tum,
The pounding of a distant drum,
The cadence of the beat beat beat
Of martial bands and marching feet;

And then came the insistent hum
Of whirring aircraft overhead,
While blaring rounds of weaponry
Would soon set the Iraquis free;

But where the flowers, the fervid cheers
And joyful tintinnabulum
On our victorious soldiers' ears?
Of all this there was none, instead

The portent of what was to come---
The petrol generated from
Refinement of petroleum.
It's oil, just oil, and nothing more;

But that's not what our leaders said---
Not oil this grievous strike was for,
This war they were resolved to sell,
Nor rubble and the waste of war;

The endless din, the earthly Hell,
The bones and bloodshed of the dead.

Elizabeth Gerteiny
Author of The President of War
www.bushandcompany.org

[Olderandwiser55]

10:36 PM on 08/28/2011

Well done!

[isb782]

06:45 AM on 09/01/2011

Great post.

[cappyhr]

03:21 PM on 08/27/2011

Whaaaat? Cheney had multiple heart attacks? How can that be? One has to have a heart to have an attack.

[Ruggy]

08:23 PM on 08/26/2011

George Tenet resigned when it became publicly known that he had boasted to known double agent Chalabi over drinks that the USA had cracked Iran's most secret encryption. Can you imagine being a CIA or NSA employee putting your life at risk daily only to have your boss blabbing stuff like that to the enemy?

What Tenet did in that single act was borderline treasonous. He HAD to resign, because after what he did, he could no longer be a credible, effective or even tolerable leader for his Agency.

[calumetkid]

09:27 AM on 08/28/2011

If he did that, it was treason.

[kjs28]

03:53 PM on 08/26/2011

For all Cheney's memoirs---he probably doesn't remember saying "Deficits don't matter" ....
in 2003.....
kjs28

[Ruggy]

08:24 PM on 08/26/2011

Wasn't that Dubya who said "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter"?

[john rajah]

12:24 AM on 08/27/2011

Nope,It was Cheney.

W just grinned while Cheney and his pals went on to spend and spend and spend on war and subsidies to oilmen,banksters,etc

[kjs28]

08:03 AM on 08/27/2011

When Cheney was questioned about the wisdom of starting another war, and giving more large tax cuts, Cheney, responded, "Deficits don't matter".....

[thebigbike]

03:24 PM on 08/26/2011

this will be turning up at the book bin at the Goodwlil Thrift store within 6 weeks

[TeebagsKiLLingAMERICA]

12:41 PM on 08/26/2011

Cheney told Bush to bomb pretty much everything and everywhere.
He wanted to bomb Venezuela.

[signgrrl]

10:32 AM on 08/27/2011

OIL

[StarGazr5992]

11:00 AM on 08/26/2011

He needs to be brought up on criminal charges for war crimes the bush administration does

[gdkzen]

09:58 AM on 08/26/2011

So few people, who do evil things, actually consider themselves evil. Usually, they consider themselves to be unappreciated heroes.

While he might have a healthy ego, Mr. Cheney's personality is severely handicapped in other respects.