Notes On Cheney’s Speech At The Keeper of the Flame Awards

Once again former Vice President Dick Cheney has called out the folly of Obama’s national security measures. Cheney again does not pull any punches in his criticisms of the Obama administration.

On Russia and Missile Defense: 

What did the Obama Administration get from Russia for its abandonment of Poland and the Czech Republic, and for its famous “Reset” button? Another deeply flawed election and continued Russian opposition to sanctioning Iran for its pursuit of nuclear weapons. 

Correct.  Russia desperately wanted the United States to drop missile defense in Europe.  It was the one thing Russia was most boisterous about. But what did the US gain for granting Russia its biggest wish?  Apparently nada. It hard to understand what Obama thought he could gain by ditching missile defense, especially given Putin’s history of reneging.

On Iran: 

 Candidate Obama declared last year that he would be willing to sit down with Iran's leader without preconditions. As President, he has committed America to an Iran strategy that seems to treat engagement as an objective rather than a tactic. Time and time again, he has outstretched his hand to the Islamic Republic's authoritarian leaders, and all the while Iran has continued to provide lethal support to extremists and terrorists who are killing American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Islamic Republic continues to provide support to extremists in Syria, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories. Meanwhile, the regime continues to spin centrifuges and test missiles. And these are just the activities we know about. 

Here too, Cheney points out the obvious, that as Obama tries different approaches to engage Iran, Iran is moving with deliberate speed to meet their nuclear ambitions. At what point does Obama realize that this strategy is mostly working in Iran’s favor?

On Afghanistan:

It’s time for President Obama to make good on his promise. The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger. 

This is the first of Cheney’s two most blistering comments. Obama is pretty much out on a limb with waiting on Afghanistan. Cheney uses Obama’s own words to bash Obama for stalling.  This is a charge Republicans should adopt whenever Obama goes off on a tangent like his war on Fox News.

On CIA investigations:  

There are policy differences, and then there are affronts that have to be answered every time without equivocation, and this is one of them. We cannot protect this country by putting politics over security, and turning the guns on our own guys. 

This is where Cheney really lets loose on the Obama administration. Cheney is clearly proud of the work he and Bush did to keep the nation safe after 9/11 and doesn’t take well to seeing all that go to waste for the sake of politics.

Overall:

The main reason why Cheney is so effective against Obama on national security is because Obama is so bad at it. If it weren’t for a complicit media, Obama’s national security policies would have long been brought into question.  Obama’s national security policies, like almost all of his other polices, severely lack common sense if you trust in Obama’s stated objectives.  Cheney on the other hand deals only in common sense. Thus Cheney’s suggested course of action fits Obama’s stated objectives far better. If Obama wants to have any hope in effectively dealing with Cheney’s criticisms then Obama is going to have to start meaning what he says.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: The Weekly Standard

Via: Center For Security Policy