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Hersh’s Assassination Kerfuffle

By Larry Johnson on March 31, 2009 at 4:27 PM in Current Affairs

Sy Hersh is back in the news with allegations that Dick Cheney had a military execution squad. I love Sy and the work he does but on this one he is wrong. Check out the following CNN report, which provides a good overview:

Fran Townsend and John Hannah are not entirely correct either.

It is not true that there is a “coordinated” list of terrorist targets. The opposite in fact is true–the CIA, the FBI and DOD each have their own lists. That has been one of the problems. I suspect Sy’s confusion stems from a loophole the Bush Administration cleverly exploited. It is called Title 10 versus Title 50. Title 10 of the U.S. Code covers Department of Defense/military operations. Title 50 deals with intelligence operations. The President is obligated to report to Congress Title 50 activities. There is no comparable obligation to report Title 10 activities being carried out in the context of a war.

I know this much for sure–Dick Cheney did not control any military unit and did not have his own band of killers at his beck and call. I am a stalwart opponent of Dick Cheney and the abuses he promoted and encouraged, but on this count he is being unfairly accused.

  • http://noquarter foxyladi14

    amazing,,where do they dream up these stories??

  • oowawa

    Larry, I know you’re a longtime Cheney critic. If you clear him on this one, I certainly believe you. God knows, we already have enough legitimate reasons to hate Cheney. Thanks for clarifying the issue.

  • WMCB

    Thanks, Larry. Truth is refreshing, rather than blind hate. There’s enough to slam Cheney for without adding stuff that he didn’t do.

    • http://www.marklevinshow.com Seattle Moss

      Truth is refreshing, rather than blind hate.

      The quicker one gains this wisdom the quicker one gains better judgment.

      Now is a good time to stop the race to
      National Suicide

  • Doc99

    Sy Hersh has made a living off his My Lai reportage for years. Thanks, Larry for calling him on this one.

  • Diana

    Thank you Larry for setting the record straight. This is one of the biggest problems I have is there are far too many out there that want to blame Bush/Cheney for every single thing that has happened. Will happen. Will never happen. When a lot of it was going on long before Bush or even Clinton came to Washington. Even if they have to make stuff up out of the air. Bush made mistakes. Some that have really made me angry. But, they want to feed us this…

    Anything to divert and distract. It never changes.

  • http://www.sonicninjakitty.wordpress.com Sonic Ninja Kitty

    Wow! Can’t Cheney go after Hersh for defamation of character? (Granted there’s not much character there to defend, but anyway…)

    I’d think as a public figure Cheney would want the whole issue cleared up for the sake of upholding public trust in government. (Granted, there’s not much public trust in government there to uphold, but anyway…)

  • mountainaires

    How on earth could Sy Hersh have been so misled on this story?

    • Doc99

      Remember Dan Rather? Agenda-driven journalism often crashes and burns from its own incendiary nature.

  • catherine

    Ya know this is the thing about Sy. I like him and admire him a lot but sometimes he gets misled on a “really good” story and we’re left to wonder how much does he get correct.

  • anon

    Do we believe there weren’t trained assassination squads working for the US government in Iraq? Cheney won’t attempt to clear this up, because attempting to clear it up would reveal even more.

  • elise

    I just want to know why Darth Vader is still living in the vicinity of Washington (McClean, Va.?) A few months ago, when Lynn was on the Daily Show, she said they couldn’t wait to get back to “Blue Sky” country. Doesn’t he have a bunker there or something? I didn’t read Symore Hersh’ article, Larry, but I believe you. Character assignation and lying to accomplish his agenda and violating the powers of the Constitution were all Cheney needed.

  • viking

    OT: I’ve been a close reader and I sometimes comment here at NQ under the name anon. Back in early 2008 I was a newbie to online blogs and commenting, didn’t feel comfy with coming up with a “handle” and so I identified myself as ‘anon’. Apparently, there’s someone else now using ‘anon’ so I believe I’d better pick a new name. Thus I who was ‘anon’ lo these many months here at NQ am now ‘viking’. In order to be clear, I’m the one who annoyed everyone with my rant about TP, if you recall.

    Cheney isn’t my hero either but I was thoughtful about his public statements recently about the danger of scaling back the Bush era protections and the increased danger we would face. Thank you Larry for standing up for reality.

    Just a quick question: Wasn’t Sy Hersch rumored to be the one who knew of (had seen) the Michelle Obama video tape that disappeared/didn’t exist?

  • Retired

    When I Sy Hersch moving to Hollywood? These plots would really sell out there.

    For those who might believe in the existence of the Cheney Hit Squad (called “chits”, for short) ask yourself this question: Cheney was VP for eight years. During that period, what “high value targets” were killed by this alleged team that roamed the world, not talking to Ambassadors or Chiefs of Station? How about “the list,” Sy?