White House Counter Attack: Cheney “Failed” Our Troops – With Video
Oct 22, 2009 11 Comments ›› Erik Wong
A day after former Vice President Cheney charged the Obama administration …
… with “dithering” over its strategy for the war in Afghanistan, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs returned fire with guns blazing.
“What Vice President Cheney calls dithering, President Obama calls his solemn responsibility to the men and women in uniform,” Gibbs said Thursday. “I think we’ve all seen what happens when somebody doesn’t take that responsibility seriously.”
Calling Cheney’s comment “curious,” Gibbs attacked the Bush administration for allegedly taking years to provide the support necessary for the war effort in Afghanistan.
“I think it’s pretty safe to say that the vice president was for seven years not focused on Afghanistan,” Gibbs said. “Even more curious given the fact that an increase in troops sat on desks in this White House, including the vice president’s, for more than eight months.”
Cheney offered his dim assessment of the Obama administration’s approach to Afghanistan at a Wednesday dinner hosted by the Center for Security Policy, where the former vice president was present with the group’s “Keeper of the Flame” award.
“Having announced his Afghanistan strategy last March, President Obama now seems afraid to make a decision, and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete his mission,” Cheney said. “The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger. Make no mistake: Signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries. Waffling, while our troops on the ground face an emboldened enemy, endangers them and hurts our cause.”
The former vice president also addressed comments made last Sunday by Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, blaming the Bush administration for taking an inadequately active approach to shaping war strategy.
Cheney retorted that Bush administration officials were digging into “every aspect of Afghanistan policy” last fall and briefed the Obama transition team on their findings and recommendations.
“The new strategy they embraced in March, with a focus on counterinsurgency and an increase in the numbers of troops, bears a striking resemblance to the strategy we passed to them,” Cheney said.
Gibbs sidestepped a question about whether Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, who was tasked with assessing war strategy by the Bush administration, had filed a report with the recommendations Cheney mentioned.
“I have not looked at that review,” Gibbs said. “I don’t know whether what he describes is accurate.”
Cheney’s remarks had the West Wing “fired up” Thursday morning, according to one aide.
