The Re-portrayal of Cheney As Victim
By SusanUnPC on February 27, 2007 at 2:14 PM in Current Affairs
I’m no fan of heedless speculations, particularly when the reports are as new as that of the suicide attack on the Afghanistan U.S. base where Cheney was visiting (NYT). Such speculation typically warrants a wait until more details, or versions, emerge. But, Cheney’s “surprise” whirlwind trip abroad was surely, in good part, to distance himself from the Libby jury deliberations and result and Patrick Fitzgerald’s singling out of Cheney in his closing arguments. The trip’s intent to re-portray Cheney as “statesman” hasn’t gone that well, what with protests in Australia and his silly attempt to blame the Democrats for possible aid reductions for Pakistan. Perhaps the re-portrayal as “victim” will go better for Mr. Cheney.
Josh Marshall has two commentaries up — “on the Cheney bombing” and “a dissenting view” — and The Democratic Daily blog has the best skeptical questions I’ve found:
The N.Y. Times reports that the “attack took place in a region of Afghanistan where the Taliban is thought to have very little support, and suicide bombings have been uncommon there.”
Such bombings, especially against high-security targets like the air base, usually involve substantial planning and preparation, and would be difficult to improvise quickly. Mr. Cheney’s presence on the base today was not scheduled and could not have been known before Monday night.
A Taliban spokesman is reported to have told the Associated Press: “We knew that Dick Cheney would be staying inside the base.” However, the N.Y. Times says that “Cheney’s trip to several nations in the region had been shrouded in unusual secrecy.”
(Read all.)
NPR just reported that Cheney’s office is asserting that the suicide bombing had nothing to do with his visit. But, that works for him too. Either way, he’s been “victimized.”
In his newsletter, Keith Olbermann announced the suicide bombing will be his top story tonight:
A suicide bomber attacked the entrance to the main U.S. military base in Afghanistan Tuesday during a visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, killing up to 23 people and wounding 20. The Taliban claimed responsibility and said Cheney was the target. Cheney’s spokeswoman said he was fine, and the vice president later met with President Hamid Karzai in the capital, Kabul, before leaving the country. “At 10 a.m. I heard a loud boom,” Cheney said. A red alert was sounded and Secret Service officials told Cheney there had been a suspected suicide attack. “They moved me for a relatively brief period of time to one of the bomb shelters nearby,” he said. (MSNBC)
Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann broadcasts LIVE at 8 pm et, and the count is never complete without you. Join us.
Newsweek: It was supposed to be a surprise trip. And it was, in more ways than Vice President Dick Cheney could have imagined. He had plane trouble that nearly aborted the journey. He made unannounced trips to Pakistan and Afghanistan, rerouting on his way back to Washington to meet with the countries’ top leaders amid signs the Taliban and Al Qaeda have regrouped in the region. Then, the suicide bomber hit. Tensions at the base were palpable. Cheney was supposed to have had a three-hour visit with Afghan President Hamid Karzai; the visit was cut to just an hour. Arriving in Kabul for the visit, the veep and the press were ushered into a heavily fortified motorcade. All passengers were instructed to buckle the seat belts, and were warned of a bumpy ride. The road was closed, but there was no apparent effort made to control people on the street, who wandered the throughway as the motorcade rolled by. (Newsweek)
I hope Keith has his tongue in his cheek tonight.
by Ronald Scott
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