Dick Cheney, Powerful Former VP, Dies at 84
- Reference: 0179962574
- News link: https://news.slashdot.org/story/25/11/04/1437234/dick-cheney-powerful-former-vp-dies-at-84
- Source link:
Cheney served as vice president under George W. Bush for two terms beginning in 2001 and relentlessly advocated for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Many Americans came to view the war as a strategic and humanitarian disaster. The conflict had far-reaching policy and political consequences that helped turn the public against intervention and upheaved Republican politics. Cheney continued to defend the invasion long after leaving office in 2009.
He had heart disease for most of his life and underwent a transplant in 2012. That allowed him to live to see his daughter Liz Cheney follow in his political footsteps to become a House GOP leader. Before serving as vice president, Cheney was defense secretary under George H.W. Bush and chief of staff to Gerald Ford at age 34.
[1] https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/04/politics/dick-cheney-death-obit
He will be greeted as a liberator. (Score:5, Funny)
Luckily, reliable sources assure me that he will be greeted as a liberator in hell; so things should go fine.
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I'm sure they're preparing rose petals and rice water to receive him. /s
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> I'm sure they're preparing rose petals and rice water to receive him. /s
Do not besmirch horchata by somehow associating it with Dick Cheney!
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You may not remember, Those bastards claimed that US troops would be greeted in Iraq by citizens sprinkling rose petals and rice water in their path, a traditional way of celebrating pageants in the Middle East. Instead they were greeted by technicals and IEDs.
And yet... (Score:4, Insightful)
Even after a heart transplant, he was still heartless.
Good News! (Score:1)
May he rot in a special circle of hell designed just for him.
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Unlikely, dude is the consummate political player. He'll be running the place as Special Consult to the Office of the Fallen One (SPECOFO) by Friday having sent off Saddam, Pol Pot, Osama, Hitler, Dave from Wendy's and John Denver to the mines.
Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead (Score:3)
And there were celebrations and festivities throughout the world . . .
Haven't been this happy over a death since Pol Pot. I'll pour out a glass tonight in memory of the millions of innocent people whose deaths he caused.
A corrupt and controversial politician. (Score:2)
The man was for years the big boss of Halliburton and as such very much involved in the oil industry.
And it likely had a strong influence on his planning the action to take Iraq...
(Not that I feel sorry for Saddam)
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Before that he was an asbestos salesman.
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> Before that he was an asbestos salesman.
Now now, he didn’t really sell asbestos, he simply headed a corporation that mass produced it while covering up the health risks and peppered the public with constant lies.
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I had to dust off my old logon that I hadn't used in years just to respond to this. He was not responsible for it all. He was at Halliburton from 1995-2000. Halliburton bought a company that had a subsidiary that was involved with asbestos. If you're going to s*** post, at least look up the facts first.
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So my post is accurate then. A subsidiary is owned by the company he headed and subject to his will.
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No again. The asbestos situation has been going on since the 1920's
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Just before the 2000 election France was going to indict him for $180,000,000 in bribes that Halliburton had paid to government figures in Nigeria during his time as CEO. Of course after the (s)election that case quietly was dropped. Either he approved the bribes, or he was a remarkably incompetent CEO, take your pick.
Miss the old JibJab political cartoons (Score:2)
Best one for Cheney - [1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0OXJneDQ1s
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I've never been clear why it was so necessary to "break the back of the Taliban", they never attacked the US or any other allied country except Pakistan. The offered to hand over Binladdin THREE TIMES, even though he was a hero of their fight against the USSR, if the US could just provide them with a modicum of evidence of his involvement in the 9-11 attacks. Since they had none Shrub just insisted, "We don't need no evidence, just hand him over because I say so!"
After two decades and over a $1,000,000,00
Evil doesn't die (Score:2)
It never dies. It just takes on a new face, a new name.
Re: Evil doesn't die (Score:2)
Pleased to meet you, hope you guessed my name
I just got up (Score:3)
I haven’t bothered to read the news, was it a hunting accident?
Weird obsession with Iraq (Score:3)
As a Canadian who was working in the US at the time, I can say that this period (2001 to ~2004) was just "weird". In particular, the pivot from a focus on Afghanistan to a sudden focus on Iraq. The invasion of Afghanistan made sense simply because Al Qaeda was known to be operating out of there and was being supported by the Taliban. There was broad international support for this.
The sudden push to invade Iraq came out of left field and didn't make any sense to me. Almost all of the 9/11 hijackers were actually Saudi Arabian. The Iraqi regime, while certainly evil, was contained and the no-fly zones over the north and south of the country were keeping the minority groups safe. And the presentation that the US did at the UN to provide evidence that Iraq had "weapons of mass destruction" was unconvincing. I had previously respected Colin Powell, but after that presentation I really lost respect for him. So there was no UN support. The US went ahead with the invasion, but lost a lot of credibility in the process.
Yes, there was oil involved, and Cheney had ties to the oil industry. That's certainly part of it. But I've never been 100% satisfied that this was the only reason for the invasion. I heard a more nuanced theory, that the US was dealing with terrorist organizations who could cross borders with impunity, and trying to fight them from country to country would be almost impossible, so they needed a way to convince the countries of the middle east not to let these organizations operate in their countries. The solution: a show of strength in Iraq... "this is what we could do to you if you give us a reason."
I still think the 2nd Iraq war was a terrible decision because it was the beginning of the end of the rules-based world order, which is something the US created for its own benefit, and benefited the most from, even if it was costly to support. And Cheney was an undeniable hawk when it came to Iraq. He wanted the invasion, and was looking for any excuse. His legacy will always be overshadowed by that reality.
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Iraq was revenge by Bush II over this [1]https://www.cia.gov/readingroo... [cia.gov]
[1] https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/DOC_0000756374.pdf
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ISIS is a direct result of a destabilized Iraq.
Re: Weird obsession with Iraq (Score:2)
America has long used distractions of creating new external problems instead of solving our internal problems.
Politicians in general are experts at patting themselves on the back for "solving" problems they created in the first place.
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I think the real answer is enough leadership recognized that controlling Afghanistan would likely be impossible.
Nationalist pride prevented any kind of public admission that the lessons of history also apply to the USA however. I think there was a real and sincere desire thought to get OBL and related terrorist leadership. That was a problem because it would mean they'd likely be able to dodge around mountain regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan (a nominally ally) indefinitely.
The 'solution' was then to tr
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Yes, it was likely Karl Rove, and not Dick Cheney, who was the source of the 'anonymous' quote that "every so often you have to throw one of these crappy little countries up against a wall to intimidate all the others", but I'm sure that stated Cheney's thoughts as well.
I agree with all your comments, but would stress that the REALLY bad thing about the Iraq war was not the strategy, but the open, transparent, obvious lies. I mean, when the WHOLE WORLD rolls its eyes at your story, at the UN, when nobody i
Medical Marvel (Score:2)
The man was a medical marvel. He had his first heart attack at 37, and at one point had an artificial heart that kept him alive without a pulse for 15 months. Somehow he still lived to the age of 84.
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Money buys you many things.
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I attribute it more to a deal with the devil.
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It's amazing what having a government health care plan does for you.
Now only if everyone had that available to them - a policy vehemently opposed by Dick Cheney.
Daughter (Score:3)
At least he was supportive of his daughter when many in his sphere woudl have condemned her
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If you're honest, she deserves condemnation from most of the political spheres out there.
Now moving on... (Score:2)
Now moving on, to a career as Walmart greeter...
[1]https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Not sure if its moving on up on moving on down...or just stuck between worlds...???
--JoshK.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56AVqUenn7U
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When a person embodies pretty much everything evil of our modern culture celebrating their removal from our population is only rational. Or did you refuse to speak badly when Pol Pot died as well?
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Could you help me understand the 'irony' here? Is saying impolite things about a dead guy the moral equivalent to being perhaps the most pivotal figure behind a war with an estimated half-million dead and a causus belli that was transparent bullshit; not to mention the elevation of extrajudicial torture to official policy? I'm not sure I follow.
And, if you'd like to expand on the 'political leanings' thing; I'd be more than happy to call anyone whose politics involve thinking that Cheney did a great job
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> I'd make a poll about the political leaning of each of those people but I don't think we need to.
Are you sure? Plenty of conservatives disapprove of Cheney. He and his buddies involved the US in an unnecessary war that cost a trillion dollars, compromised the credibility and independence of US intelligence, harmed US relations with important allies, motivated nations like Russia and China to step up their ability to oppose western interests, and emboldened nations like Iran which to this day continues to promote instability and terrorism in the middle east. And he did all this knowing of these likel
A-12 Avenger II (Score:2)
Thousands lost their jobs when he cancelled the contract. I'm sure there are no tears coming from them; those tears ran out when they were standing in line waiting to be processed out (I saw it first-hand).
I did not attend the funeral (Score:2)
but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.
Blessed life Indeed (Score:1)
He lived a long life. He lived well. He died smiling knowing his haters would choke on his ashes, impotent and crying tears of rage. Love him or hate him, I think he died smiling. I've never seen the point of hating on a dead man who can't hear you. Politics is a mortal vice. Now, Pol Pot...that's a different story.
Hellfire (Score:2)
His infernal engine ran out of hellfire.
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There will be plenty of hellfire available where he is going.
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Dick Cheney dies and suddenly you all become religious?
Re:Hellfire (Score:5, Informative)
The infernal engine is a Baldurs Gate 3 reference, a far cry from religion.
Cheney was a murderous bastard who pushed for the Iraq War and made bank off of it. Up to a million people died in a pointless war based on lies. Whether one believes in hell or not, Cheney lived a life deserving of it.
Re: Hellfire (Score:2)
Believers are made when God answers prayers.