Woof! Pat Buchanan had The Cheney Doctrine pegged from the start, except he was thinking too small.
No one will be surprised. We've known it for a long time. But Ron
Suskind's new book makes it plain.
Besides it
seems fitting that if P.M. Tony Blair is Bush's poodle, Cheney should have one
too. After all, he's the one running the show.
From George W. Bush's chilly relationship with his father, which plays right
into Dick Cheney's plans, to Cheney keeping the Saudi memo away from Bush when
the Prince came to meet him. Dick's got his hands in everything. That it's extra
Constitutional is only one problem.
There is nothing in the Constitution that allows the vice president of the
United States to control the foreign policy of the United States. This isn't
a minor point. Only the president can hand that job off to the second in command.
That's exactly what's been done.
We've felt it all along.
…Cheney listened intently, hard-eyed, clamped down tight. When the briefing
finished, he said nothing for a moment. And then, he was ready with his “different
way.”“If there's a one percent chance that Pakistani scientists are helping
al Qaeda build or develop a nuclear weapon, we have to treat it as a certainty
in terms of our response,” Cheney said. He paused to assess the declaration.
“It's not about our analysis, or finding a preponderance of evidence,”
he added. “It's about our response.”So, now spoken it stood: a standard of action that would frame events and
responses from the administration for years to come. The Cheney Doctrine.
Even if there's just a one percent chance of the unimaginable coming due,
act as if it is a certainty. It's not about “our analysis,” as Cheney
said. It's about “our response.” This doctrine–the one percent
solution–divided what had largely been indivisible in the conduct of American
foreign policy: analysis and action. Justified or not, fact-based or not,
“our response” is what matters. As to “evidence,” the
bar was set so low that the word itself almost didn't apply. If there was
a one percent chance of terrorists getting a weapon of mass destruction–and
there has been a small probability of such an occurrence for some time–the
United States must now act as if it were a certainty. This was a mandate of
extraordinary breadth.The One Percent Doctrine, by Ron Suskind (p. 62 – emphasis added)
The “one percent doctrine,” also known as The Cheney Doctrine, is how we got into Iraq. What this means for Iran should pop next into your mind.
I use certain books as note pads. My copy of Suskind's book now is dog-earned
and marked with red pen everywhere. Much of what is covered is now fact and
part of the record. But the story Suskind lays out is remarkable because we're
still living it, with two more years to go. You've also got to wonder if we'll
ever recover.
The differing roles and clashes between the FBI and CIA are always fascinating
to see in print. CIA wants everything now. FBI needs evidence to make cases.
They also can't afford to get caught cheating. Their cases across the country
would be jeopardized.
Oh, and remember that FRONTLINE documentary I covered last week? The high points
are here too.
This is a classic. Tenet was talking to his people on how to cooperate with
foreign services of countries we've never trusted before. The “war on terror”
made our enemies now our friends.
“In most cases, tell them everything–because they already know more
than you,” said Tenet, his voice rising. “Without them, and their
help, we have no fucking global effort. We'd be walking through the Arab world
wide open and half blind. The key for us, at this point, is understanding
that we don't know shit.”The One Percent Doctrine, by Ron Suskind (p. 87)
The anecdotes on Zubaydah, the man we put back together in order to torture,
then trust, makes you want to scream yourself.
… An extraordinary moment in the “war on terror” was about to
unfold. After months of interdepartmental exchanges over the detainment, interrogation,
and prosecution of captives in the “war on terror”–as well as debates
over which “debriefing” techniques would work most effectively on
al Qaeda–the United States would torture a mentally disturbed man and then
leap, screaming, at every word he uttered.The One Percent Doctrine, by Ron Suskind (p. 111)
But it's the one event that continues to strike me with cold fury that is repeated
again in this book that defies all common sense and warrior competence.
Warned again and again that “the back door is open,” Donald Rumsfeld
and General Tommy Franks failed to come to the CIA's aid after Tora Bora, which
allowed Usama bin Laden to escape.
John Kerry told American voters this very fact over and over again, but not enough listened.
Gary Berntsen, the amazing CIA man on the ground, said it too and he was there.
Suskind confirms it without equivocation again and again in this book.
The Saudis even threw it in our face in a meeting with Cheney.
There's a lot more. It's a great read.
It's just too bad it's true.
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