Dick Cheney: Like Everything We Do Or You're The Bad Guy, Deliberating Undercutting Our Troops

[Ed. note: And, of course, Cheney is also warning Iran. Have to be a big bully, y'know.]

Right. If we can't get behind a plan that puts yet more American soldiers in harm's way and that changes security plans around so extremely that what few "protections" that currently for U.S. service personnel are removed (like divvying up Baghdad into nine gated communities - when we know this arrangement has never worked historically - and sending our soldiers into forces with Iraqi soldiers and police who are targeted by so-called insurgents), then we are the evil doers.

From one of my favorite publications (with a nod to Greg Mitchell, one of E&P's absolute best people), Editor & Publisher:

Appearing on Fox News this morning, VicePresident Dick Cheney said that attempts to stem President Bush's new Iraq plan, announced this week, were undercutting U.S. troops in Iraq.

He also said that any "sense of Congress" passed in the days ahead would not halt the president's troop escalation in Iraq, adding that he had not yet heard a "coherent" Democratic plan on Iraq. Bush, after all, is "commander in chief" and "you can't fight a war by committee."

Cheney denied the White House felt isolated or embattled, adding "I've seen embattled administrations, and this isn't one of them." Nevertheless, he would only answer questions on Sunday at the media outlet most friendly with the administration. He boasted that even though the president on Wednesday cited "unacceptable" conditions in Iraq, "We have in fact made enormous progress."

On new U.S. moves against Iran, Cheney said: “Iran is fishing in troubled waters inside Iraq....We do not want them doing what they can to destabilize the situation inside Iraq."

Cheney also defended the domestic spying program, involving the CIA and the Pentagon, revealed this weekend by The New York Times. And he acknowledged that he had invited his former chief aide, "Scooter" Libby, to his Christmas party in December, even though his trial in the CIA leak case is about to begin, with the vice president faced with testifying. "He's a friend. He's a good man. He is one of the finest individuals I've ever known," Cheney explained. "I believe he's one of the more honest men I know."

Asked three times by host Chris Wallace to deny rumors that the U.S. might be considering a replacement for Iraqi leader al-Maliki, Cheney refused to answer the question, saying the administration was focusing on its present plan instead.

Right. But if you're Bush & Cheney and your plans just contribute to more military and civilian deaths, well then... you're a patriot.