Question: Two-thirds of Americans say it was not worth fighting.VP Cheney: They ought to go spend time, like you and I have, Martha. You know what’s been happening in Iraq. You’ve been there as much as anybody. There has, in fact, been fundamental change and transformation, and improvement for the better. I think even you would admit that.Question: Let me go back to the Americans. Two-thirds of Americans say it’s not worth fighting, and they’re looking at the value gain versus the cost in American lives, certainly, and Iraqi lives.VP Cheney: So?Question: So – you don’t care what the American people think?VP Cheney: No, I think you cannot be blown off course by the fluctuations in the public opinion polls. Think about what would have happened if Abraham Lincoln had paid attention to polls, if they had had polls during the Civil War. He never would have succeeded if he hadn’t had a clear objective, a vision for where he wanted to go, and he was willing to withstand the slings and arrows of the political wars in order to get there. And this President has been very courageous, very consistent, very determined to continue down the course we were on and to achieve our objective. And that’s victory in Iraq, that’s the establishment of a democracy where there’s never been a democracy, it’s the establishment of a regime that respects the rights and liberties of their people, as an ally for the United States in the war against terror, and as a positive force for change in the Middle East. That’s a huge accomplishment.Question: Are you certain of victory?VP Cheney: You can’t, say – get up some morning and say, gee, the polls are critical of what we’re doing, and quit. It doesn’t work that way.
Question: Are you certain of victory?VP Cheney: I am.Question: And what makes you so certain?VP Cheney: I am confident because I’ve worked over the years with both the Iraqi people that are involved, as well as the Americans that are involved; because I know the effort and the sacrifice that have been made by the men and women of the United States military; because I know and have watched people commit their lives in Iraq to this enterprise who have lost family members or been seriously threatened themselves by virtue of the fact they’ve been willing to sign on with Americans and be part of the enterprise… It is hard. It has been difficult. No question it’s been costly, in terms of treasure and life, but it’s worth it. And we are going to get it right. As I watch events unfold, both in Iraq and Afghanistan, I am convinced that we are changing the course of history, and it was absolutely the right thing to do…
What Dick Cheney is talking about is something very different from Abraham Lincoln’s resolve, The War in Iraq pays homage to a Principle that arose behind closed doors – preemptive, unilateral warmaking. It was a resolve of the tiny group called the Project for a New American Century. The presented goals were regime change in Iraq and prevention of Iraq’s nuclear/chemical/biological warfare program. That program did not exist. In the rarified atmosphere of a small non-governmental office in Washingtom, there was a plan, and "… this President has been very courageous, very consistent, very determined to continue down the course we were on and to achieve our objective. And that’s victory in Iraq, that’s the establishment of a democracy where there’s never been a democracy, it’s the establishment of a regime that respects the rights and liberties of their people, as an ally for the United States in the war against terror."
What Cheney is saying here is monsterous. He says in essence, "Who cares what people think? We were right to do this." He says, "We did it for the Iraqi people." Outrageous untruth! And the Iraqi’s opinions are as negative as those in America. When he says, "So?" he says that we the people don’t matter. What matters is he, the person. 
He’s saying, "I, the person, have resolve. Who are the people of America to question me?" And, by the way, neither he nor his friend George are in the Abraham Lincoln league. Their motives were not pure, not even related to our welfare. Their stories were not true. Their vision was clouded. Their execution was incompetent. And their time in office has been dishonest and contemptuous.
When I watch the news and there is tape showing Bush or Cheney coming on to a stage where there are people clapping and cheering, I want to know why the people are doing that clapping and cheering today. When I see a bumper sticker on a car that still has vote for Bush 04, I want to stop my car and ask the person why, especially now in 08 with all we now know. I’d like to ask them if there was anything it would take for them to feel differently about Bush/Cheney. I want my Democratic candidate to have a list like David Lettermen and to read all the awful things that Bush and Cheney have done to destroy so many lives. We could start with saying Bush ignored the August 2001 memo saying that Bin Laden was determined to attack inside the United States and then he ignored it and spent another month clearing brush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas. You know the litany but maybe our candidates have to remind people of the lies that we have been told to destroy lives and our economy with his folly. Bush’s own grandfather who was a Republican senator from Conn., not Texas, practically swore till his dying days that FDR’s Social Security Bill was just an entitlement program for stupid and lazy people. Now that we have borrowed from China etc, for the unnecessary war, the country maybe to poor to keep SS. I could see somebody saying that we are so sorry but we can’t give you money that we don’t have with a wink and a smile. Senator Prescott Bush would be so proud of his grandson W if he were alive today.
First, the premise of suggesting “if they had had polls back then” is ludacrous. They didn’t so it’s silly to propose what might have been the case. It wasn’t the case so stick to the facts. Secondly, history has shown that Abraham Lincoln wasn’t pressing the agenda of slavery as much as keeping the Union together. The Iraq war is not about keeping our Union together. It’s not an internal issue. This is a self-imposed issue involving a foreign land to further the agenda of a domestic think tank. BIG difference there. Time and time again Dick Cheney tries to use false reasoning and a reconstruction of history to prove his point and move a long his personal agenda. Enough already!
The American people are sick of Dick, George and all their cronies. We aren’t winning anything other than the race to go broke the fastest. He doesn’t care about our opinions, but we HAVE to care about his because they are ruining our nation. THAT is the division of Union we have to be concerned about.