Let me state for the record, Cheney is not my favorite guy in Washington DC.  I think he deserves a lot of the criticism he gets.

But one of the things I do like about him is that he not afraid to say what he thinks, and he rarely pulls punches.  Take this for example:¹

Cheney: Moves by Pelosi, Murtha would ‘validate the al Qaeda strategy’

In an interview with ABC News today, Vice President Dick Cheney called the announcement that the British will begin withdrawing their troops in the spring “good news,” described the situation in southern Iraq as “dramatically improved,” and lambasted House Democrats for pursuing a course that will “validate the al Qaeda strategy.”

Cheney told ABC that the troop shuffle is evidence of improvement, “I look at it and see it is actually an affirmation that there are parts of Iraq where things are going pretty well.”

In the ABC interview, Cheney mostly confined his criticism of war opponents to House Democrats, who recently passed a resolution expressing disapproval of President Bush’s plans to send 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq.

“Jack Murtha is an old friend of mine,” Cheney said of the powerful Pennsylvania Democrat. “We’ve done a lot of business together over the years. When I was Secretary of Defense, he was perhaps my closest ally on Capitol Hill. Jack clearly has a different perspective. With respect to Iraq, I think he’s dead wrong. I think, in fact, if we were to do what Speaker Pelosi and Congressman Murtha are suggesting, all we’ll do is validate the al Qaeda strategy.”

Can you say slam?  I added a video clip of Cheney below.²

And the really painful part is that he 100% correct.  That is exactly how AQ would read a rapid reduction or withdrawal.

 So the esteemed speaker went crying to daddy.³

Pelosi Calls Bush to Complain of Cheney’s Comments on Democrats’ Iraq Strategy

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday phoned President Bush to air her complaints over Vice President Dick Cheney’s comments that the Congressional Democrats’ plan for Iraq would “validate the Al Qaeda strategy.”

Pelosi, who said she could not reach the president, said Cheney’s comments wrongly questioned critics’ patriotism and ignored Bush’s call for openness on Iraq strategy.

No Speaker, he did not question your patriotism⁴, just your judgement. 

“You cannot say as the president of the United States, ‘I welcome disagreement in a time of war,’ and then have the vice president of the United States go out of the country and mischaracterize a position of the speaker of the House and in a manner that says that person in that position of authority is acting against the national security of our country,” the speaker said.

Translation:  It’s only fair to disagree when we do it.

Sorry Speaker Pelosi, but you are acting like a hypocritical whiner.

You have leveled every imaginable insult and criticism at the Whitehouse⁵ and you feel that is ok, but when the vice president questions your policy, he is a bully?

Please…what is obvious is that your desire to “punish” the president is overriding your common sense.  Step back and take a deep breath and try again.⁶

More on this as it develops.

Updated:  here is Cheney’s remarks on video:

1. Hat Tip Hot Air [back]
2. Thanks to Sister Toldjah [back]
3. So to speak [back]
4. Your patriotism has been in doubt far longer [back]
5. Stopping short of accusations of murder ala Cindy Sheehan [back]
6. Remember, the safe word is “Palomino“ [back]

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