Cheney: Mubarak not so bad
Crawling out from under some undisclosed rock, Dick Cheney lectures us on loyalty to our friendly dictators:
But Mr. Cheney said that from the standpoint of American interests, while democracy and freedom in other countries were to be celebrated, they were not the only important issues. On other fronts, he said, Mr. Mubarak had long helped the United States.Sadly, he's right. It's not like we're so pure. The US has a long history of supporting repressive regimes when it suits our purposes. And really, how many dictators are willing to do our dirty work for us on secret renditions?
“He’s been a good man, he’s been a good friend and ally of the United States,” Mr. Cheney said. “We need to remember that.”
That being said, the empath in me does have some small sympathy for Mubarak. I know he's done much evil but he's still just a human being and it can't be easy for him to see his status being shredded so publicly. Imagine if all the internet trolls suddenly started demonstrating in front of your home. Thinking it must feel like that, only much worse. [Reuter photo]
Labels: Middle East, World politics
posted by Libby Spencer at 2:29 PM
2 Comments:
Cheney (who's been out of government for two years ) says many of the same things the current VP says.
The current VP declined to label President Mubarak as a "dictator"
Where is your commentary on VP Bidens interview with Lehr?
btw..link to Biden's comments
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june11/biden_01-27.html
Many of the same things? You and I say many of the same things. That doesn't mean we're of similar opinion on all things; that the transgressions of one make it impossible to talk about the transgressions of another.
I think Biden is under instructions not to appear to be taking sides. He makes it clear that he won't and I think that the policy is to appear neutral. I think that Egyptians looking for more democracy would appreciate our staying well out of this. They're fully aware of our years of support and if Biden were to blurt out -- as he's wont to do -- that Mubarak is a tyrant, he'd then have to answer the question of why the US has supported yet another tyrant.
I think that for once he's being appropriately discreet although you never know that Obama isn't sitting in another room ready to give Joe an electric shock if he passes up an opportunity to shut up. I think he's been given a very short leash at the very least.
Cheney of course also had to refrain from calling someone he was giving tanks and fighters and bombs to a dictator. Mubarak was a very useful dictator and most presidents have had their useful dictators. What really counts are the things going on we don't yet have access to even with Julian Ass-hinge on the loose.
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