'Iron-ass' Cheney and 'arrogant' Rumsfeld damaged America, says George Bush Sr

[newthinking]

Source: Guardian

'Iron-ass' Cheney and 'arrogant' Rumsfeld damaged America, says George Bush Sr

Former president claims hawkish reaction to 9/11 attacks and desire to ‘get our way in the Middle East’ hurt his son’s administration, says new biography

Former US president George HW Bush has hit out at Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, two of the most senior figures in his son’s administration, labelling them too “hardline” and “arrogant” in their handling of the 11 September attacks.

A new biography of the 41st president – Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey Of George Herbert Walker Bush – reveals that Bush Sr held Cheney and Rumsfeld responsible for the hawkish stance that “hurt” his son’s administration, Fox News reported on Wednesday.

The book, by Jon Meacham, is based on audio diaries that Bush recorded during his time in the White House, as well as interviews with the former president and his wife, Barbara.



Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/05/george-bush-senior-iron-ass-cheney-arrogant-rumsfeld-damaged-america

[JudyM]

1. "Hurt his son's administration"?! How about hurting *the world*...

He's not too arrogant and self-serving, himself...

So he's admitting implicitly that Little George had no mind of his own or couldn't control his beasts, which is it?

(On edit). We can only hope that this concession of disastrous results reignites the public dialogue about republican "values" ...

[SoLeftIAmRight]

13. very very good obsevation

it is not about the BFEE - it is about life on earth

[wordpix]

58. "might be historically proved to be not benefiting anything"

Ya think? Even with the diplomatic politicalese, you can tell Poppy is thinking, "Georgie really fucked up the Mideast royally."

[Francois9]

97. Lest we forget....

George Bush Sr. himself bears some responsibility for the current disaster in the Middle East. He got the ball rolling in 1990, by demonizing Saddam Hussein and invading Iraq, based in part on trumped up charges about babies in incubators and wild claims about chemical and biological weapons.

[JudyM]

98. Fomented with the assistance of Cheney, as well. Nt

Welcome to DU!!

[acuity24]

99. 1. "Hurt his son's administration"?! How about hurting *the world*...

Looks like the rat is jumping off his own ship!

[JudyM]

101. Ha, yes! Welcome to DU!

[tk2kewl]

2. Poppy's own disciples

[Sunlei]

3. late, to late to 'fix' trillion$ squandered & the damage done

[SmittynMo]

4. So let's get "iron ass" a statue?

Congress approved it today. And both are war criminals and liars. Unbelievable.

[JackInGreen]

26. We'll see if it goes undefaced

I think there'll be a popular new target for graffiti and creative expression in DC

[yeoman6987]

30. I doubt it

First of all its in the capital and liberals don't destroy things that they disagree with. Conservatives do evidenced by abortion clinics, mosques, and other things.

[JackInGreen]

31. ...we don't?

Ok. Your call, your time.
I'm a big fan of defacing the images of rat bastards left in public.
But
If you're comparing me to a righty that lights up churches or bombs clinics or shoots doctors you're high on dogshit and need a nap.

[yeoman6987]

32. Wow. Good for you taking it so personal

You must think it's all about you.

[JackInGreen]

33. Just your comment actually

And you were replying to me...so...maybe I should take responses as obtuse non sequiturs hurled at the ether.

[yeoman6987]

38. I really honestly speaking directly to you

But more so I apologize for my nasty reply. I am sorry. It was uncalled for.

[JackInGreen]

39. Likewise :)

I'm the one that needs a nap, seriously (graveyards are a BEAST).

[7962]

59. You're kidding, right?

PLENTY of examples of "liberals" destroying/defacing things they dont like. I've never been in favor of it, just like I dont favor those who try to stop people they disagree with from speaking on campuses across the country

[wordpix]

43. we could throw shoes at it but of course

the neocon brown shirts would take us to jail for that

[newthinking]

60. Looks like they already casted it. Pic here

[karynnj]

5. Remember when Kerry referenced GHWB in the foreign policy debate (the first debate)

intentionally unnerving GWB? The reaction then was pretty obvious. Imagine how GWB himself has to personally feel about this. Though GHWB blasts Cheney and Rumsfeld - the buck stops at the President who selected both. All decisions made by the administration are in reality the President's.

There were so many articles that suggested that W was motivated by outdoing his father -- ie getting a second term that his dad failed to get -- and not stopping short in beating Iraq. In fact, both were Pyrrhic victories. Iraq became a quagmire and the second term was abysmal - from the wars to Katrina to the financial crash. Then after he was out of office he wrote a book on how great his dad was! Now, we essentially have GHWB throwing his son under the bus - along with many of his own guys who served his son as well.

It is too bad that strange family drama had to involve the country! Let's hope that this is the final straw for the really pathetic Jeb! campaign.

[Botany]

12. And in 2004 our "liberal media" ran cover for w's fuck up in Iraq and helped to ....

.... push the swiftboat lies too.

I want all the truth to come out and have those bastards never have
a moment of peace.

John Kerry had 3 purple hearts, a bronze star, and a silver star but
w went AWOL.

BTW HW, Rummy let bin Laden walk away in the winter of 2001 and 2002
so as to keep a "bad man" out there so they could have their Iraq war.

[blm]

16. Poppy tapped cronies RevMoon and Rupert Murdoch to build a propaganda media to

keep the GOP voting base misdirected and under informed, so BushInc can operate with little to no scrutiny and political blowback.

Now, after their success over the last 3 decades, Poppy Bush wants to whine about how well his plot worked out?

[INdemo]

104. Remember operation "O I L"

"keep a "bad man" out there so they could have their Iraq war."

"Operation Iraqi Liberation...
That is what the invasion was at first called

[blm]

14. The entire family deserves to rot in hell for what they've done to this nation and

to the world.

[BlueMTexpat]

23. Amen. eom

[RKP5637]

51. Exactly! And now they want another try with Jeb to finish off the US. They, are a disgusting and

sick bunch, all of them, the entire herd and their cohorts.

[ailsagirl]

94. AMEN

Slime

[bemildred]

6. Well it's not often I agree with G. H. W. Bush. nt

[raindaddy]

7. True....

But Poppy's forgotten that his son was the president. He not only hired Rummy and Cheney he willingly followed their advice.. Hate to say it, but your son is responsible for his administration including the worst foreign policy blunder in US history..

As we watch the Middle East unravel and the corporate media gradually releases itself from repeating the lies created to cover the "damage" created by the Bush administration, George W. Bush's legacy is only going to get worse and there's nothing you or Jebby can do about it.

[Raster]

53. First of all, I don't believe Gee-Dubya* hired anyone. If anything, Dubya* as "selected" to be the..

...nameplate and mouthpiece by cheney*, rumsfeld* and the neoconjob circus. The real power was cheney* all along. I think Poopy is hoping the Jeb will rejuvenate the family's tattered historical image, after all, Jeb was always billed as the "smart one" and his father's favorite.

[raindaddy]

61. I believe Bush recruited Cheney to find a VP and Cheney chose himself...

I agree, Cheney called the shots, especially when it came to foriegn policy.
But think about it for a second... Can you imagine JFKs father whining in his bio about LBJ destroying his son's presidency? It's like Cheney left George alone for the weekend and he threw a big party and trashed the White House.....

[Raster]

63. Cheney* has admitted he headed the so-called VP search committee and could not find...

...anyone he approved of, so he took the job himself. I believe Dubya* was actually selected to head the ticket because there was no way Cheney* could be elected. Poopy is: (1) trying to rehabilitate the family's public image; and (2) trying to rejuvenate Jeb's failing Presidential bid.

[procon]

8. Then it's true, his stupid son really was nothing but a puppet. nt

[Raster]

64. It's all true and his stupid son was indeed nothing but a puppet.

[NCjack]

9. Bush Sr. is much too kind. The superior description of Cheney and Rumsfeld

is "war criminals". But, they are not responsible for W's failings -- his parents shaped him to be what he is.

[Botany]

10. Too late motherfucker

H.W.,

So you had your friends Ken Lay (Enron) and James Bakker along w/your son
Jeb fix the 2000 election which put those monsters into power and BTW it was
you, HW, who told w to have Dick Cheney help him pick a V.P.. And the rest is
history and as much as you want you can not change it or rewrite it.

[monicaangela]

81. Thank you for remembering

history the way it actually happened.

[Botany]

82. ISIS is now running wild through the middle east and maybe blowing up that russian plane and ....

..... so HW is trying to rewrite history and w's role in making that nightmare.

[monicaangela]

83. Truer words were never spoken

The Bushes are responsible for the disaster in the Middle East, beginning with the policies of George H.W. Bush and continuing with George W. Bush. I find it amazing that daddy Bush wants the world to believe that he and his son somehow stopped communicating during the time his son was in the White House. Yes, he had Dick Cheney as overseer to make sure the things he, daddy Bush, wanted to get done through his son got done, since I'm sure he realized his son was too ignorant to be able to carry them out alone; but nevertheless, GWB was in charge. Rumsfeld arrogant? LOL! They couldn't have been happier with that ignoramus, they thought they were going to be able to blame a lot of this on him. We also have to remember btw the fact that daddy Bush was involved with the Carlyle Group, one of the groups besides Cheney's Haliburton etc., that were making a killing during this fiasco. I find it hard to believe these people, all of them are not in Jail, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, daddy Bush, and all of the cabal that was involved in perpetrating this atrocity on the world.

[Botany]

84. The Cheney Family made major bank on the Iraq war

Dick had a 2,800% growth in his stock value

Halliburton was on the verge of collapse before Cheney became V.P.

KBR made a $39.5 billion profit on the Iraq war

http://www.ibtimes.com/winner-most-iraq-war-contracts-kbr-395-billion-decade-1135905

Even Liz Cheney was paid $$$ to help in the rebuilding of Iraq after we broke it ...... she
didn't get anything done and hired right wing acolytes to do the work so the oldest civilization
in the world still lacks running water, electricity, schools, roads, and public services along w/
a non stop sectarian civil war.

BTW all those Syrian refugees in Eurasian now are running from ISIS.

You are right those bastards should be in jail.

[monicaangela]

89. Yep,

they all cashed in. I find it amazing that they are still being paraded on the MSM as if they have done absolutely nothing wrong. Where are the pitch forks, where is the Tar and Feathers and the rail? If we run anybody off the planet, these would be the first candidates that I would have in mind, along with Tony Blair and the rest of the criminals that thought they were going to do something as heinous as this and get away with it. I often wonder what it is going to take for the masses to begin to realize what has happened in this world because of this group and their buddies and begin demanding they all be sent to the Hague...barring that, they should be arraigned and prosecuted right here in the U.S. or still better, first in Iraq, then in Afghanistan, later in the Hague, and last but not least here in the U.S. with all courts combined to pronounce the sentence, which I feel should be the same sentence they gave Saddam Hussein.

[wordpix]

93. yes, very well said, thank you. How quick some forget

that history, or want to

[The Blue Flower]

11. Interesting juxtaposition with !'s comments

Now that ! is on record praising all his brother did, I wonder how this will play.

[Babel_17]

21. This

It would take a lot of brass for a Republican rival to use it against Jeb! in public. So, yeah, the ball is in Trump's court.

[asjr]

15. I am still waiting for daddy Bush to apologize

for running over many people to put Clarence Thomas in SCOTUS.

[Tikki]

17. Wasn't boosh jr the 'decider'?

They are all War Criminals.

Tikki

[TexasBushwhacker]

18. I guess he forgets he was on the board

of the warmongering Carlyle Group.

[Babel_17]

19. Wonder if Trump will use it

He could try to force Jeb! to choose between his brother and Cheney as the one who caused the disaster in Iraq. Trump has already burned his bridges with both, so why not. It would be amusing to see Jeb! have to choose between admitting Cheney was a disaster or that, no, it was a faultless administration. Independents, and more than a few Republicans, would deride Jeb! for being the apologist of the War Inc. administration.

P.S. I loved that John Cusack movie, and Dan Akroyd's Dick Cheney character was a hoot!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0884224/

[wordpix]

44. family member who knows the Booshes says

she spent a day with Jeb! and her conclusion is he's not pres material. This from staunch repub who loves BushCheney. Go figure She is beside herself since there is no repug she wants to vote for

[Babel_17]

48. Urge her to support Pataki

He's one of the least reprehensible and no harm should result from her having him to pin her hopes on.

Or maybe it's a sign that she should kick back. Who knows, after a break she might find her inner Democrat.

[wordpix]

55. I was thinking the same - maybe an inner Hillary

[global1]

20. Whatever Happened To "The Buck Stops Here".....

Dubya was the President he shoulders the blame for his hires. He hired Cheney and Rumsfeld. All G.H.W Bush's book is - is an attempt to blame everything on others and protect his son.

[vkkv]

22. The BUCK Stops WHERE? .... nope, not under there.. uh, over here? nope.. not in there.. uh...

Stupidest FUCKING moron president ever.

[Fritz Walter]

24. YOU created these monsters, Poppy BUSH!

Just because your misbegotten sorcerer's apprentice couldn't or wouldn't control them doesn't wipe the blood stains off YOUR hands.

[Nitram]

25. I agree that Cheney probably duped Dubya.

Last edited Thu Nov 5, 2015, 02:26 PM - Edit history (1)

But he was the president, it was his decision. Poppy doesn't think his son is tough enough to take responsibility?

[Agnosticsherbet]

27. I had no idea that Cheny/Rumsfeld were President and Vice President in that period.

I guess the reports that Bush was elected were just a lie by left wing media.

[Nay]

29. I know, right? One thing you can say is that the Bushes NEVER take

responsibility for ANYTHING. It's ALWAYS someone else's fault. Not that Cheney and Rumsfeld are innocent, mind you, but Bush Jr. was the fucking 'decider.'

[Volaris]

76. Oh it was a lie alright.

[louis-t]

28. And he's holding back.

Of course, he's trying to deflect blame from his dumbass son but it's good to hear this anyway.

[niyad]

34. hey, poppy, remember this: as president, one is ultimately held responsible. of course, those

two you mentioned were YOUR loyal henchman.

[Jefferson23]

35. Damage control mode..he wants the next in line for POTUS to be able to use his last

name again. Fuck this shit, GO AWAY, all of you.

[6chars]

36. Gotta like the name Iron-ass

[wordpix]

45. yes, it has a nice ring ---"neocon iron ass"

[Auggie]

37. He likely means both sons -- the one named president and the one faltering at the polls.

[wordpix]

56. but as Trump says, even ! has more energy than Carson

so at least that for Dimmerson

[Joe Chi Minh]

40. Like ferrets in a sack, aren't they?

[Ratty]

41. Hmm, if there's blame to go around why not blame who's REALLY responsible?

George Bush: 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq'

One of the delegates, Nabil Shaath, who was Palestinian foreign minister at the time, said: "President Bush said to all of us: 'I am driven with a mission from God'. God would tell me, 'George go and fight these terrorists in Afghanistan'. And I did. And then God would tell me 'George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq'. And I did."

[wordpix]

46. may as well be told to go to Iraq by the FSM

sorry but I'm an atheist and having some invisible man in the sky tell you to go to war is just insane

[Phlem]

42. Yea but your crazy ass, ignorant son still picked his cabinet.

Idiot.

[bvf]

47. Revisionism continues apace... n/t

[Angry Dragon]

49. so he says W was not really in charge

just like Raygun

[wordpix]

57. nothing new there, just that Poppy sort of said it

[raccoon]

50. Spoken like an enabler. Wasn't Junior's fault, he just got in with the wrong crowd. nt

[underpants]

52. So........Where was W's fearless "leadership"?

Anyone?

[pansypoo53219]

54. sorry, your idiot spawn helped.

[burfman]

62. Daddy Bush, you felt this way and you didn't tell your son at the time?

We are all lost out due to your silence............

[PersonNumber503602]

68. Now I'm curious to hear what kind of conversations W. and Papa Bush had back then

I wonder if Cheney was listening in.

[monicaangela]

65. Is daddy Bush

admitting his son was too stupid to be POTUS?

[Raster]

66. yes, in a kinder, gentler, more ditch-the-blame kind of way...

...We know why the old man cried as he reflected about his favorite, Jeb, and his tribulations....

[monicaangela]

79. How heartbreaking it is....NOT!

to have to admit how correct you are on this one. This crime family has wreaked havoc on this nation since granddaddy bush and the Nazi's. Thank you for reminding me of the spectacle daddy Bush made of himself in that video...I'm sure he was remembering all of the horrible things he did as Director of the CIA and the many other taxpayer paid jobs he has held during his rise to the Presidency. Jebbie, as favorite son must have used daddy Bush for his personal handkerchief during his moment of defeat. This is a lesson for all of us, having every privilege, being given every advantage, including wealth does not the man make. Sometimes privilege has the opposite effect on human beings, it causes them to live in a world that is in no way reality and, as you can see in the video, when the norms of that world meet with the real world, they just can't seem to adjust to the fact that what they believe and what the rest of the world believes is soooooooo different. It's wonderful to be able to see reality set in on camera.

[Raster]

90. Jeb was Poopy's favorite, Gee-Dumbya* was Babs of the Beautiful Mind's favorite....

...Poopy hoped that one of his boys would legitimately ascend to the Presidency and help rehabilitate the name of Bush*. Unfortunately, Darth Cheney* and the NeoConJobs needed a frontman with a name and a pedigree in 2000 and Jeb-the chosen one's cred wasn't quite sanitized enough for a Presidential campaign at that time, so enter the Cocaine Cowboy, Mr. AWOL himself. I don't believe for one minute that Poopy believed Dumbya* was Presidential material. I think he hoped his ol' Raygun peeps would keep the kid out of trouble and minimize his reckless, dry-drunk tendencies to fail in spectacular fashion, which, of course they did not. Cheney*, Rumsfeld*, et al, turned out to be even more reckless and destructive than W*, and more than willing to use the Bush* name and connections to further their own nefarious ends.

[demwing]

67. The Whitewahing of Bush the Lessor

and the Bush family finally throws Darth Cheney under the bus.

Will Cheney respond? We he fall on the sword like a good soldier?

Does it matter? Does anyone think that Bush the Elder is motivated by anything other than getting his spawn in the Oval Office?

Too late, HW. 15 years too late.

[JackRiddler]

70. Yes.

And more like 27 years too late. The destruction of the Iraqi nation was initiated in the Bush Sr. administration.

[JackRiddler]

69. As if anything in that book is not calibrated to a propaganda purpose...

Presumably in getting the stink of guts and blood and death and "failure" (actually successful murderous intent) off the whole family long enough to give Jeb a chance to return the exact same neocons (younger generation this time) to the same perches they occupied under Bush Sr. and Bush Jr., so that they can start the next round of major wars.

[monicaangela]

80. SPOT ON JackRiddler!!! Spot On!!

[dflprincess]

71. Oh Poppy, don't give them all the "credit"

you and Reagan did a lot to get the ball rolling.


BTW just where were you on 11/22/63?

[Raster]

73. No shit!

[McKim]

95. Excellent Remarls dflprincess

Spot on. Princess. This family really stinks and they are capable of anything.

[annabanana]

72. I'll bet HW thought Cheney would be like the loyal retainer..

Watching after Young Master in the White House....

[YOHABLO]

74. Why didn't he just come out and say ''criminal'' instead of "hardline'' and ''arrogant"?

And as if his dumb ass son could have made any decisions on his own. Ha HA!

[Volaris]

75. Then he should be happy as all git

To testify as such at the trial.

[JDPriestly]

77. This is about rehabilitating the badly damaged Bush family reputation.

Fact is George W. Bush wasn't smart enough to control Cheney.

[MADem]

78. I am starting to think that Poppy and Bar don't want Jeb! to win...

I think Bar was right when she said this country has had enough Bushes!

Nothing uglier than seeing those two middle aged assholes, Porgie and Jeb!, stuffing their elderly daddy under the bus, too!

[joanbarnes]

85. Let us not forget W. got all his cabinet cronies, etc. from PAPPY BUSH!

[patsimp]

86. Republicans don't love America and are truly cowards

where were they when it was time to speak up?

the rest of us knew the damage these morons were causing. How could Sr not know? Either he's a fool or a traitor - knowing that harm is coming to America and doing nothing about it.

[libodem]

87. K&R

[Sunlei]

88. Bush and his 'Gang' 'actions' painted a BIG FAT TARGET on America and Americans.

god, I wish we could squeeze every penny out of that gang and disburse it to everyone in all countries hurt by them. I know its only billions in Blood-money but at least it would be some small thing.

[Skittles]

91. he's pretty much admitting they ran the show for their Puppet, Dubya

[wordpix]

92. nothing to see here, move along! All the Rs are puppets of the super rich

But W was a prize puppet b/c he was one of their 1% own

[McKim]

96. Thanks, Suniel

Thanks Suniel,

You are so right. Now the whole world hates us and many in the US agree. We are done, a moral disaster. Thanks to every lazy and cowardly American who did not join the Peace Movement and keep up the pressure. Without your indifference, they would never have succeeded. That's one thing I don't like about living in America, having to live among morally lazy assholes who failed the Peace Movement.

[Zambero]

100. And No Brain Bush allowed it all to happen

The "Decider" decided to follow bad advice, because it matched a preconception that Iraq was going to be invaded. As Stalin once remarked, if you intend to carry out something, the truth of the matter is secondary. Any excuse for actions will do.

[imthevicar]

102. The Bush Family Tree yeilds one kind of fruit,

The Bad!

[lastlib]

103. So why did he let Junior Dimson have them in his Cabinet?

. .

[LiberalLovinLug]

105. Awwww His poor son being taken advantage of. After all he was only..

....THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!


Fact is the Bush family knew how profitable it would be for their investments in oil and arms manufacturing companies. And they raked in billions in over-charging the American taxpayer during that long long illegal invasion.

[czarjak]

106. H.W.

Still a member of a secret society, a society so secret, "he can't even talk about it".

[MinM]

107. Best & Brightest

Scary to think these clowns were running the Country. As NPR noted several years ago even with JFK's so-called "Best and Brightest" it took real leadership to get through tough times.

BOB GARFIELD: In your review of that film, 13 Days, you made another point about learning from history. It was about the supposition that a president, surrounded by a circle of trusted advisors, can be depended on to make the right decision. And you made a, a connection to the George W. Bush White House. Make it again.

FRED KAPLAN: The point was - I think [font color=blue]George W. Bush had just been elected president, and a lot of people were wondering if he would be smart enough to deal with crises. And the common explanation at the time was well, don't worry, he has a lot of really smart people around him[/font]. And [font color=red]the point that you can take from the fourth draft of the history of the Cuban missile crisis is that the people around John Kennedy were really smart - I mean these were the people that David Halberstam later called, in a note of irony, "the best and the brightest," and yet John Kennedy realized that they really weren't very smart, after all. And the lesson of that is that you can have good advisors but the crucial thing is that you need a president. It's the president who makes the decisions[/font]...

http://www.onthemedia.org/2010/aug/27/missile-crisis-memories/

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021414805#post12