Dear Commons Community,

Former Vice President Dick Cheney was interviewed this morning on CBS’s Face the Nation by host Charlie Rose.  During the interview, the major questions directed at Mr. Cheney had to do with Russia’s “occupation” of the Crimea.  Cheney had a lot of tough talk but saved some of his barbs for President Obama as being weak and without credibility with our allies to do anything significant to stop the Russian aggression.

The hypocrisy of Mr. Cheney is on two issues.  First, as the architect of the lie that the war in Iraq was necessitated by the presence of weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Cheney effectively crippled American credibility for years to come with much of the rest of the world.  Tens of thousands of Iraqis, Americans, and American allies died during this war under the pretense of the need to eliminate weapons of mass destruction.

Second, in 2008, when Russia invaded Georgia, Vice President Dick Cheney decried Putin’s action, declaring that:

“Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States, as well as the broader international community.”

The irony is that Putin’s actions in Georgia did go unanswered. Russian intervention in Georgia was quick, decisive and brief — and he got away with it. For all the bellicose inclinations of the George W. Bush administration, there was no U.S. or European response of any substance. The international community quickly turned its attention to other matters, and Russia continues to occupy Georgian sovereign soil to this day.

So please Mr. Cheney, recognize that you and George W. Bush are the ones with the serious credibility problems when it comes to American foreign policy.

Tony