The United States is fully engaged in a long overdue conversation about our foreign policy and the goals and expectations we, as a country, have for one of the most volatile regions in the world.
Iraq is devolving to the brink of instability, and the United States has to discern how we are going to respond with our allies. These prominent issues come after more than a decade of war, lies and expensive nation building, and now, the Obama administration announced today that the U.S. is not going to stand by while Iraq descends into civil war because of terrorists looking to gain a foothold in the country. Carrier fleets, surface warships and 300 military advisers are in the region, which shows you that Secretary of State Kerry was serious when he said in an NBC interview Thursday that "all options are on the table."
This is a critical and consequential moment for our country and the people of the Middle East; no one is interested in grandstanding and posturing. Well, no one except for Dick Cheney.
It is beyond appalling that Dick Cheney and his daughter, Liz, chose to take the gravity out of this discourse and infuse it with an unprecedented dose of narcissism and cynicism. The Cheneys published an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal and then followed it up with a video on their new website that placed blame for the crisis in Iraq on the Obama administration. The funny thing is that Dick Cheney joining the conversation about America's role in Iraq is like Sarah Palin discussing her favorite newspapers -- neither knows what they are talking about.
But it gets worse: the really outrageous act -- even for Cheney -- is that the announcement came with a fundraising ask for the organization! Republicans have a regrettable history of using key political moments for ridiculous publicity -- Donald Trump used his exploration of a 2012 presidential run to promote his reality television shows, and Sarah Palin used the primary process to sell her book. However, for Dick Cheney to take an international crisis and turn it into a self-centered publicity campaign is a new low entirely. While the Cheneys try to paint this as some act of statesmanship, it feels more like an episode of Game of Thrones.
The Wall Street Journal shouldn't let its editorial page be hijacked for fundraising purposes, and I give credit to the "Kelly File" for calling Cheney out on this. Megyn Kelly, of all people, joined the chorus of critics tearing down the glass house the Cheneys built for themselves.
Republicans and Democrats should demand that House Cheney and their new organization disclose all of their financial backers, money raised and spent. Shame on him for exploiting the very war he started for political and financial gain. Even the Lannisters would be blushing.