Vice President Cheney today repeated his charge that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s approach toward the Iraq war would benefit al-Qaeda, saying that he was not trying to impugn the speaker’s patriotism but instead hold her accountable for the consequences of her policies.
Continuing a feud that broke out earlier in the week, Cheney said that Democratic proposals to restrict some Iraq war funding — what he dubbed the "Pelosi policy" — would amount to a broad validation of al-Qaeda efforts to undermine America’s will to fight.
Cheney initially raised that criticism on Wednesday, prompting Pelosi (D-Calif.) to ask the White House to repudiate remarks she felt were "beneath the dignity of the debate" over how to proceed in Iraq.
But in a new interview with ABC television on Friday, Cheney said that patriotism had nothing to do with his comments. Instead, he charged Democrats were trying to win public support by criticizing the war without taking responsibility for the repercussions.
"She accused me of questioning her patriotism. I didn’t question her patriotism. I questioned her judgment," Cheney said during a trip to Australia.
"If you are going to advocate a course of action that basically is withdrawal of our forces from Iraq, then you don’t get to just do the fun part of that, that says, well we’re going to get out and appeal to your constituents on that basis. You have to be accountable for the results…
"The point I made and I’ll make it again is that al-Qaeda functions on the basis that they think they can break our will. . . . That if they can kill enough Americans or cause enough havoc, create enough chaos in Iraq, then we’ll quit and go home… If we adopt the Pelosi policy, that then we will validate the strategy of al-Qaeda. I said it and I meant it."
Isn’t Vice President Cheney just a peach of a fellow? When he said, "I think in fact if we were to do what Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha are suggesting, all we’ll do is validate the al Qaeda strategy, the al Qaeda strategy is to break the will of the American people," he wasn’t saying that she was unpatriotic. He was saying that she was a fool person with bad judgement. And today, he clarifed things even further. "…he was not trying to impugn the speaker’s patriotism but instead hold her accountable for the consequences of her policies."
Frankly, listening the Vice President Cheney talk about accountability for policies just makes my blood boil. I could spend the rest of my day ranting about Cheney hiding from accountability for his own @&$*$%^#%$!-ing policies. But, alas, I don’t have time. I’m too busy sitting quietly, waiting for the Jury to come in on the Libby Trial [with my fingers crossed, throwing salt over my left shoulder] in hopes they will convict Mr. Cheney’s Chief of Staff and open the door to some heavy-duty accountability for the Office of the Vice President and the consequences of his @&$*$%^#%$!-ing policies…
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