Russert Makes Cheney Sweat on Iraq War, 9-11

It took some courage for VP Cheney to come on Meet the Press and take on no nonsense Tim Russert.

Russert asks the definitive question right-off-the-bat. "Are there more terrorists now than there were five years ago?"

"Its hard to say, Tim, and hard to put a precise number on it. It's, it's changing and evolving to some extent. "

Then how can you claim success in the war on terror, Mr.Cheney?

Another revelation:

"We are still in the fight in Afghanistan and we're likely to be for some considerable period of time."

Really?! That means we are not making progress in Afghanistan either.

"The Washington Post today, bin Laden, the trail is stone cold, according to intelligence officials. Do you agree with that?":

"I don't. I, I, I haven't read the article..."

What does it matter whether you read the article or not? Do you need the Post to tell you whether you can find Bin Laden or not?

To the question of what the administration is doing to capture Bin Laden:

"He's not the only source of the problem, obviously, Tim. If you killed him tomorrow, you'd still have a problem with al-Qaeda, with Zawahiri and the others."

Then why is Bush mentioning Bin Laden every chance he gets. What about bringing him to justice for killing 3,000 Americans.

To the question of the Pakistan dictator giving Bin Laden a safe haven by agreement:

"President Musharraf has been a great ally. There was, prior to 9/11, a close relationship between the Pakistan intelligence services and the Taliban."

Sounds like a contradiction to me. Is Musharraf really an ally or an opportunist?

Russert asks Cheney about the booming Opium production in Afghanistan:

"There were narcotics being produced, heroin being grown in, in Afghanistan for centuries. It's been the major source of supply because of the nature of the, the area for heroin going to Europe long before the United States got involved in Afghanistan, or long before we got involved in Iraq. That's not a new development. The fact is that we have made major progress in Afghanistan."

What he doesn't mention is that the Taliban wiped out Opium cultivation in Afghanistan. Resurgence of Opium production has led to the resurgence of the Taliban. And its only a matter of time before we have another thriving Heroin trade in the United States. Its happening under our very noses over there.

Would you do it all over again if you knew Saddam had no WMDs?:

"Let's, let's, let's go back to the beginning here...."

What about Saddam's ties to Bin Laden?:

"Well, let me, let me, on that, well, go ahead."

You've said there is no connection between Saddam and Bin Laden. But what about Saddam's involvement in 9/11:

"That's a different issue. Now, there's a question of whether or not al-Qaeda, or whether or not Iraq was involved in 9/11....There are, there are two totally different propositions here, and people have consistently tried to confuse them. And it's important, I think, there's a third proposition, as well, too, and that is Iraq's traditional position as a strong sponsor of terror."

Huh?! What are you saying, Mr. Vice President?

Russert - "It appears that there was a deliberate attempt made by the administration to link al-Qaeda in Iraq in the minds of the American people and use it as a rationale to go into Iraq:"

"Tim, I guess, I don't, I'm not sure what part you don't understand here."

Testy, Testy.

You get the point.