his generation s war in vietnam, you know, he got four deferments and said he had other things to do, better things to do. now, let s be straight. he took us from focusing on bin laden in afghanistan to an unnecessary war in iraq. and especially this weekend, on memorial day, when we look at 4,400 american lives killed in iraq. 58,000 american lives lost in vietnam. we need to make sure that we re being tough and smart when we talk about the true threats to our country. over nearly a decade dick cheney has been incapable of recalibrating his decision on how america deals with the threat of terrorism. on meet the press in 2003, when the wounds were relatively fresh and the iraq war was months old, cheney gave an infinite timeline for the ridiculously named war on terror. let s listen. from our perspective trying to deal with this continuing campaign of terror, if you will, the war on terror that we re
the world doesn t tend to work in all or nothing terms. i think what the president was doing yesterday, i liked the word you used at the beginning, chris, was putting this in perspective. everything in life is often a balancing act. you could have we could go even further on security measures at airports and elsewhere than we have gone so far if you want to try to have more security. but we have to balance that against freedom and liberties and civil liberties. and cheney was basically arguing at aei, you go all out or it doesn t matter. yesterday it was interesting when obama started talking about, there are different types of terrorism. there are these international groups we have to target and there are the small cells we may not be able to do much about before they strike. and we have to keep all this in that perspective. something that dick cheney, we re not talking about george bush, you ll notice here, never really talked honestly to the american public about.
talk about the true threats to our country. over nearly a decade dick cheney has been incapable of recalibrating his decision on how america deals with the threat of terrorism. on meet the press in 2003, when the wounds were relatively fresh and the iraq war was months old, cheney gave an infinite timeline for the ridiculously named war on terror. let s listen. from our perspective trying to deal with this continuing campaign of terror, if you will, the war on terror that we re engaged in, this is a continuing enterprise. well, in may of 2009, speaking at the american enterprise institute, this is really bringing coal to new castle, cheney remains stuck in his black and white view of the terrorist threat. incidentally, cheney began his speech moments after president obama finished his own speech defending his anti-terrorism policies. let s listen to cheney. here s the great dividing line in our current debate over
engaged in, this is a continuing enterprise. well, in may of 2009, speaking at the american enterprise institute, this is really bringing coal to new castle, cheney remains stuck in his black and white view of the terrorist threat. incidentally, cheney began his speech moments after president obama finished his own speech defending his anti-terrorism policies. let s listen to cheney. here s the great dividing line in our current debate over national security. you can look at the facts and conclude that the comprehensive strategy has worked, and therefore, needs to be continued as vigilantly as ever. or you can look at the same set of facts and conclude that 9/11 was a one-off event, coordinated, devastating but also unique and not sufficient to justify a sustained wartime effort. but in the fight against terrorism, there is no middle ground, and half measures keep you half exposed. and on the day after
president obama told the country osama bin laden had been captured and killed, actually killed, abc s jonathan carl interviewed cheney. let s listen. are we safer now? i think so, but it s a kind of situation where we need to preserve our sense of vigilance, if you will. we need to stay just as vigilant as we have been. let me go back to david. i mean, this is an important transition from cheneyism to obamaism. obama s fighting the war because we have to fight it because it s something we can handle and also be americans at the same time. cheney saw it as an all encompassing reality he stepped into and wasn t actually upset with being in. he seemed to be at home in it. just that he seemed to relish the experience of fighting it and he seemed to like this notion that it would never end and that it would be an ex-potentiex potentipo ten existential threat. as if it threatened america s very existence. that got into a blood system where everybody began to talk