‘I Can’t Link Those Two Events’ « The Washington Independent
Jul 31, 202045.2K Shares1.1M Views
Vice President Dick Cheney’s exit interview with PBS’ Jim Lehrer has to be seen to be believed, and Ben Craw has the video. Editor & Publisher has the transcript.
“„CHENEY: …
“„VICE PRES. CHENEY: I can’t say that. I can’t link those –
“„MR. LEHRER: Sure.
“„VICE PRES. CHENEY: – two particular points. What I can say is I think if we had been able to move more rapidly to stand up a government that was capable, I think we might have avoided some of that.
Ah, rigor! To be rigorous, you really dohave to conclude that there’s no concrete way of saying that if there had been an Iraqi government “stood up” immediately after the invasion, there would have been no descent into chaos. That’s the peril of the counterfactual conditional. Somehow, though Cheney didn’t seem to insist on such rigor when linking Saddam Hussein to Al Qaedain order to get the war that will forever define his legacy.
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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