Vice President Biden Says About Cheney's Criticism -- 'Who Cares What–-' -- Then Stops Himself

Biden was absolutley beautiful in his response, clear, articulate, intelligent: “A whole lot has changed in the last year,” he said. “Let’s assume they left us a review that was absolutely correct. Is that review relevant and totally applicable to today in light of the changes that have taken place in the region, in Afghanistan itself? So I think that is sort of irrelevant. Not sort of – I think it’s irrelevant.”

But "Who cares?" was far more on target.

Love ya Joe! Joe Biden, a real vice president and more.

"Said the Vice President today: 'Could it (the announcement scrapping the missile shield program) have been done better? Yeah. Obviously it could have been done better.'"

Bat puckey, Jake - you're smart enough to know better. That announcement was carefully and intentionally PLANNED to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the USSR's invasion of eastern Poland. The State Department has a protocol section whose only job is to keep the Poobahs aware of such things.

Obama's intention could not have been clearer - the message to Eastern Europe and the Baltic republics is "We're throwing you back into the Russian bear's cave. Get used to it." I wonder what he's got planned for the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre?

Biden should remind Cheney, that he slept in a underground bunker for 8 years.

The neo-con mind is a wonder of nature.
When neo-cons were in power for 9 months, like on 9/11, a prior Dem. administration was totally responsible. But, when neo-cons lose elections, Dems. are charged with responsibility from day one. That's how things work in those afflicted with Cheney Alternate Universe Syndrome.
I'm also weary of this screed that Bin Laden's death or capture prior to 9/11 would have changed things. Khalid S. Muhammed R. Yousef et. al. were, according to Cheney, the architect and planners of 9/11 beginning in the mid-1990's. OBL just wrote the check. So, neo-cons, want us to believe no other rich Arab would have stepped in in OBL's absence? And if I'm wrong, why did Cheney let OBL escape at Tora Bora? Too busy, calculating how to maximize Haliburton profits to make sure his deferred compensation package got paid.

Funny, none of you Dem Kool Aid drinkers will acknowledge the fact that the previous Dem administration was offered Bin Laden on a silver platter...and passed him up. So yep, I'd reckon that 9/11 was a Clinton screw-up. Nobody seems to want to discuss the other attacks I mentioned which happened under Clinton's watch, either...funny, that.

Oh--and how many attacks occured on US soil after 9/11 under Bush/Cheney?
Posted by: JiminStl

you mean the 9/11 attack didn't count under Bush & Cheney's watch? fascinating POV..

curious that the right now wants and expects Obama to clean up Bush's policy failures in 1 year after Bush ignored Afghanistan for so long.

Cheney and his daughter should keep their mouths shut as they, and the rest of the neo-con crowd have been wrong on just about every prediction they've ever made.

Well, Diane, that big hole in Manhattan signifies this for you:

If we had been attacked on September 11th 2009, YOU and your "enlightened" Bush haters would have blamed it on Bush, not Obama.

Hypocrite.

"JiminStl .....here's a hint....when you get memos saying that terrorists are planning on flying planes into buildings........HOW ABOUT READING THEM AND PROTECTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE !!!!"

The White House gets memos on terrorist plans to do all manner of nastiness. What's credible? What's not? Who are the operatives? Can they be found? Apprehended? Are they even identified? Shall we just ground all commercial air flights for the indefinite future based on a memo regarding a THREAT? "PROTECT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!!" Uh, okay. How? Instead of more bawling, why don't you first specify the intelligence which was at hand, the threat environment in which the White House was operating, the level of confidence with which this was reported, and the actions which you'd take to "PROTECT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!!!" Oh yes, and make sure that whatever actions you take aren't political suicide. Even after 9/11 blithering idiots like yourself then accused Bush/Cheney of "scaremongering".

So, if the President made the announcement the day after the run off election, wouldn't there still be sufficient time for to arrive very early in Afghan spring as they would have anyway?
======
Alyson-
What people are concerned about are the troops that have sat through and Afghan spring, then an Afghan summer, now an Afghan fall, and soon an Afghan winter as things worsen while their Commander in Chief can't even name his strategy goals. Or even talk about them all that much.

"The loquacious Blue Hen has built a reputation in Washington, DC, for foreign policy expertise"

Jake, I love ya for being one of the few mainstream journalists to actually ask tough questions to the Obama administration, but when you call Biden a foreign policy "expert" you take two steps back. Biden has been on the wrong side of history on every big deision over the past 20 years.

1. he voted against the first Gulf War
2. he voted against the Irag invasion even with the intelligence from most of the world that Saddam had WMD's
3. He voted against the very successful surge, wanting to instead partition Irag into three areas for the Sunnis, Shiia and the Kurds.

So, he's batting zero. What Joe Biden is is a typical blowhard second-guessing Senator who is never called on his own track record by the mainstream media.

Come on, Jake, you are better than that!

Pull Poland and the Czech Republic out from under the bus and dust them off.

Until the next time Obama changes his mind---expiration dates on everything out of Obama's mouth.

Couldn't take a stand in the Senate can't take one now--still voting "present".

Biden is supposed to be the "screw up" in the White House.

But he is the one sent over to make up with our allies for Obama's boneheaded mistakes.

What's Obama afraid of?
His soft power is getting him rolled by our enemies so he has begun to realize we need our allies?

My goodness, what's that big hole in the middle of Manhattan? Must be where bush/cheney 'kept us safe'.

JiminStl .....here's a hint....when you get memos saying that terrorists are planning on flying planes into buildings........HOW ABOUT READING THEM AND PROTECTING THE AMERICAN PEOPLE !!!!

They don't just get the order and board a plane the next day. Also, it's not required but it's rather considerate if the Commander in Chief gave sufficient advance word that the troops can say good bye to their families and can have time to make arrangements for their absence.

Posted by: JiminStl | Oct 24, 2009 10:45:12 AM

***

So, if the President made the announcement the day after the run off election, wouldn't there still be sufficient time for to arrive very early in Afghan spring as they would have anyway?

What I'm getting at is, isn't the biggest problem really the perception problem, rather than boots on the ground as they'll likely arrive when they would have if the President had made the announcement a month ago, and aren't the tea leaves pointing toward a slight change in the end goal to make it achievable, pragmatic and one that keeps us safe but basically puts McCrystal's plan into action if (and only if) the Afghan government is legit enough to be a semi-reliable partner for counterinsurgency, and, doesn't a runoff election help in that latter regard?

I'm not actually trying to be disagreeable. I want someone with a solid understanding of the situation to explain it to me without the usual talking points because the usual talking points don't make much sense to me as they ignore some of the finer details.

"You repubs keep saying bush kept us safe AFTER 9/11. That's like getting the brakes fixed on your wife's car AFTER she flips it 6 times!

"Well honey, what are you complaining about?, you haven't gotten into an accident since I fixed the brakes, and besides, your limp is almost gone now."

You Kool Aid drinkers seem to forget the USS Cole. The US Embassy in Kenya. The Khobar Towers bombing. The 1993 bombing of WTC. Numerous other attacks under the previous Democrat administration. A feckless Clinton WH which imposed bizarre limits on US intelligence. Eric Holder and Jaime Gorelick should have been subpoenaed before the 9/11 Committee and indicted for endangering US citizens. The "Firewall" the Reno Justice Dept erected prevented US intel from tracking the 9/11 hijackers. Again, I ask the Kool Aid drinkers: so you know organization X is planning a "major attack" on the US. They have been for years. Uhhhhhh...so just where are you gonna recruit the psychics who are going to tell you precisely when and where the attacks will land? Where are the psychics who will tell you precisely which of the 300 million people in this country are going to carry out the attacks? You people are incredibly clueless about intelligence activities or even the basics of security. All I hear is a bunch of ignorant 5 year olds bawling "WAAAAHHHHH!!! They knew somebody wanted to hurt us and they didn't stop them!" What, should we have carpet bombed Afghanistan in Feb 2001 after Bush was inaugurated. Maybe a few airburst nukes over Kabuhl and Pakistan's NWFP? And a few nukes over select US cities where the 9/11 hijackers were harboring? Oh yeah, we didn't know where they were harboring because due to Clinton Administration policies, CIA couldn't tell FBI we had a bunch of dangerous AQ operatives entering the country. And again....why didn't Clinton take Obama when he was offered to us by the Sudan? All I hear is "WAAAAAAAHHHH, Bush is a bad man!" Whatever. Either put up logical, clear actions the Bush Admin could have and should have taken which would have prevented 9/11, or stop your ignorant snivelling.

You repubs keep saying bush kept us safe AFTER 9/11. That's like getting the brakes fixed on your wife's car AFTER she flips it 6 times!

"Well honey, what are you complaining about?, you haven't gotten into an accident since I fixed the brakes, and besides, your limp is almost gone now."

You don't just wave a magic wand and a division's worth of troops show up in Afghanistan. Orders must be issued. Logistics must be arranged--transport of troops and equipment, quartering of troops, security of forces, integration of additional forces into the operations plan, beans, bullets, band aids. Formations slated to go must be notified months in advance so they can get pre-deployment training which can take months. Equipment must be inspected, repaired, overhauled, replaced prior to leaving. They don't just get the order and board a plane the next day. Also, it's not required but it's rather considerate if the Commander in Chief gave sufficient advance word that the troops can say good bye to their families and can have time to make arrangements for their absence.

...Just because no attacks have happened does not mean "he's kept us safe longer". Oh--and how many attacks occured on US soil after 9/11 under Bush/Cheney?

Posted by: JiminStl | Oct 24, 2009 10:28:16 AM

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

So, you believe that since Cheney and Bush were ‘sucker-punched’ by the terrorists, and did everything they could to not get ‘sucker-punched’ again...that means they had the natural forethought to protect us from then on?

If Obama and Biden get ‘sucker-punched’ like Cheney and Bush did...well they still will have protected us 43 days longer in their administration than Cheney did in his administration.

Whatever Cheney has to say about the present administration, BO and the gang can thank Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore - they set the new standard.