DICK CHENEY: 'No question' Russia meddled in the US election, and it could be 'an act of war'

[DonViejo]

Source: Business Insider



Alex Lockie

3h

In a wide-ranging speech at the " target="_blank">Economic Times' Global Business Summit on Monday, former US Vice President Dick Cheney spoke unequivocally about Russia's meddling in the 2016 US presidential election.

Cheney said there were a "rising number of threats" in the world that, beyond national security, "even pose a threat to the globalization movements you're here to talk about today." Segueing into talking about Russian President Vladimir Putin, Cheney warned of Russia's aggressive actions.

"I think he has designs on the Baltics. ... We know he wanted Crimea — he took it," said Cheney, who pointed to previous Russian cyber campaigns against Baltic states and Russia's recent moves to nuclearize its European enclave of Kaliningrad.

On the subject of the 2016 election, Cheney said Russia attacked the US in a possible act of war. "There's no question that there was a very serious effort made by Mr. Putin and his government, his organization, to interfere in major ways with our basic fundamental democratic processes," Cheney said. "In some quarters, that could be considered an act of war.




Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/dick-cheney-russia-hack-no-question-act-of-war-2017-3

[Javaman]

1. while i loath crashcart with every fiber of my being, he is an old cold warrior and holds no love

for russia.

I', at odds with believing him, but at the same time, he still very much in the thick of the defense/intel world.

I have to say, I believe him.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. certainly reminds this of what a twilight zone moment we are in, hey?

[Javaman]

3. I know. twilight zone is right. nt

[sprinkleeninow]

34. That it is. VG description. "Twilight Zone". eom

[Kimchijeon]

41. Twilight Zone moment, that's exactly the right description! nt

[lunatica]

44. You're right!

Twilight Zone is exactly what it feels like.

[Dave Starsky]

9. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, I guess.

This is like reading a Marvel Team-up with Spider-Man and Dr. Doom.

[NRaleighLiberal]

24. the enemy remains the enemy but stopped clocks and all that!

[LiberalLovinLug]

20. Of course if he did have investments in Russia with money on the line

He'd be the biggest Trump supporter out there. The man has no moral compass at all. Cheney cares about Cheney as much as Trump cares about Trump. Its a transparent attempt to try and repair his worst (actual) president ever tag.

I refuse to let that past charlatan be the one to lead the charge against the current charlatan.

[dixiegrrrrl]

47. He's smart enough to know defining "war" means treason charge against Trump will hold up

I will be happy about him pounding that drum, even if I do have to hold my nose.

[inanna]

59. That is a VERY good point. n/t

[RobinA]

64. He's Undoubtedly Smart

and knows how to play the game. I would wager that he hates Trump as much as we do, although for different reasons. Cheney is as Establishment as they come. From the days when there was a real Establishment. Smart, experienced...a chess player at the game of power. Probably believes strongly in the US government as he conceives it. Everything the flailing, incompetent Trump is not.

[The Wielding Truth]

4. Geez. That makes me doubt everything. Cheney is not a credible person to listen to.

[pangaia]

54. In this case I think he is right - about the Balkans.

[yardwork]

55. The Bushes are competitors of Trump.

[The Wielding Truth]

60. I read this in another thread. I think it finally makes sense.

[onenote]

5. Through the looking glass

Cheney says that "in some quarters" the Russian hacking could be considered an act of war and some DUers rush to see who can salute Deadeye Dick the fastest.

While President Obama, of course, declined to characterize it as an act of war because, well, smarter than Dick....

[Girard442]

6. {Breathe} This underhanded attack on the Rebel Forces is despicable! {breathe}

Wha?!?!?

[mountain grammy]

7. I can't bring myself to rec this because it's, gag, Dick Cheney..

but I will comment.. holy shit! Somehow this is hurting Cheney's bottom line. He ain't no patriot, that' s for sure.

[Dave Starsky]

12. I imagine he has at least some allegiance to the Bushes, too.

And they hate Cheetoh almost as much as we do.

[They_Live]

19. I think that you're on to something

money grabs.

[Kber]

8. Bat signal to GOP establishment:

It's ok to take Trump out. Do it before Pence gets more mud on him.

[Girard442]

10. Only Nixon could go to China. NT

[marybourg]

22. Yes, I think you hit the nail on the head. nt.

[Volaris]

42. That's That's because only Nixon was as ambitious as he he was fucking batshit crazy

No one else could have pulled that stunt off, because no one else was crazy enough to try.

[niyad]

11. we KNOW the world is completely nuts when darth cheney says something sane.

[Gamecock Lefty]

13. It's always an act of war for those who don't have to go . . .

Remember old soldiers never die - only the young ones do.

[Rustyeye77]

14. WHO THE F**K CARES WHAT HE THINKS.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. The neocon wing has been shut out of the Drumpf admin

and he is trying to make them relevant again (eyeing the $54 billion being scraped together for DOD)!

[0rganism]

16. it will be interesting to see how the Bush cartel handle the Trumpists

i don't see much love lost between those factions to begin with, and then you add in Trump's actively rude behavior toward brer Jeb during the primaries, i wouldn't be surprised if the Bush clan wants Trump to fail spectacularly just to make a point

[Dopers_Greed]

17. I have no love for Cheney (or any of the other PNAC goons)

But the current crop of neo-fascist Russian shills are EVEN worse, so I'll welcome anyone who wants to criticize them

[not fooled]

40. Yeah, who woulda thunk it?

That the pukes could vomit up creatures even worse than chimpy and darth. Yet here we are...

[Vinca]

18. Up is down and down is up.

[Marie Marie]

21. Who dug up this corpse and could you please put him back?

[Kingofalldems]

23. So it's treason for anyone who cooperated with them.

[onenote]

25. Sure, if you think Cheney is the gold standard on such matters

Personally, I'll go with President Obama, who declined to so characterize the hacking. http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/white-house-wont-call-russia-hacking-act-war

The reality is that treason charges are never going to be brought against Trump or any of his minions. Hopefully, however, they will be forced from office by the threat of impeachment.

[Thomas Hurt]

26. Pfffffft,

everyone knows that Cheney is a hippie communist, why would any red blooded true murican believe him............

[Achilleaze]

27. but, the KGOPee's Caviar Comrades are determined to keep the lid on

the Act of War perpetrated on the USA by their Draft-Dodger-in-Chief, Comrade Casino, and his Kabal of Kinky Klods.

[Turbineguy]

28. Interestingly enough

that was one area into which the Bush Administration dared not venture. Amazing considering how fast and loose they were about obtaining power by any means.

Maybe they were just smarter.

[Honeycombe8]

29. Wow. nt

[red dog 1]

30. Even a broken clock is right twice a day,

and, as much as I hate to agree with anything Cheney might say,
his statement "it could be a possible act of war" rings true to me.

Why didn't President Obama suggest that the Russian hacking into the 2016 presidential election "could be a possible act of war"?

Couldn't he have temporarily suspended all declarations of Trump's winning the election, pending further investigation by the FBI?

If it was, indeed, an "act of war" or even a POSSIBLE "act of war," couldn't he have said to the American people on Nov. 9, 2016,
"There is evidence that Russia may well have tampered with our presidential election, and if this turns out to be true, it would be an act of war..so I am using my executive power to temporarily halt all actions regarding the election, including declaring anyone to be the winner, until this matter has been thoroughly investigated by the Justice Department and the FBI."

Instead, what he did in the early hours of November 9 was to call Hillary Clinton and strongly suggest that she should concede the election.

Why did he do that?

Am I missing something?

[metalbot]

31. He didn't do that because it's irrelevant to the election results

If American voters are willing to show up at the polls and vote, then the election result is whatever they voted for. The fact that Russian meddling was a result of an act of war (if you accept that premise) is completely irrelevant. Obama putting result certification on hold (which he has no legal power to do) would just be confirmation to Trump's base that Obama planned to stay on as dictator, and quite frankly, they would have more evidence for "dictator" than we have for the frequent comparisons we hear on DU about a Trump dictatorship.

Postponing elections and nullifying results you don't like is exactly the behavior of dictators throughout the world who flirt with the trappings of democracy.

If we get evidence of an "act of war" and find evidence of collusion in the Trump camp (which I suspect we will), then impeachment should be up next, even though that means installing Pence (if he survives the scandal) or Ryan (if Pence doesn't survive).

I'd also point out that this "act of war" is probably much more benign than the activities of the CIA over the last century in South/Central America.

[Stuart G]

32. HOLLY SH*T............!!!!!!

This is a hell of a day....
I agree with this crook on something...
Holly Be
Can't you see..
It is a hell of a day...................that's all folks...

[TheDebbieDee]

33. Of course the "HEARTLESS" murderer wants

To call the Russian hacking an act of war. Certainly there's a way for Halliburton to make more $ in another war...

[MGKrebs]

35. How the hell would he know.

[meow2u3]

36. Crashcart's broken clock moment

It's the only thing he's right about--Russia's interference in the 2016 election being an act of war.

[liberalmuse]

37. That settles it. We're in hell.

I just agreed with Cheney. Never thought I'd see the day. When people like Cheney and Graham start making sense, you know this country is f*cked.

[gordianot]

39. My very first reaction.

It makes you wonder if war criminals and traitors should share the same prison?

[MGKrebs]

48. No kidding. How screwed up are things when Dick Cheney and Lindsay Graham

are closer to Dems than the current Repub administration.

[ananda]

38. Even Cheney and Bush insiders are appalled.

I guess that is saying something.

Boy!

[cstanleytech]

43. While I personally believe Darth Cheney should be in prison for the rest of his natural life

I do agree with him a bit about Russia and Putin.

[McCamy Taylor]

45. Cheney is old school. "America first." Trump is new school. "Money first."

[packman]

46. Damn it, now I have a reason to be grateful

to that evil, puss-filled piece of wasted humanity. Need to go take a pill.

[LisaM]

49. But Cheney thinks everything calls for war.

I mean, we invaded two countries that had nothing to do with 9/11 on pretty flimsy grounds. He loves war so much that I don't trust his calling anything an "act of war" as having any plausibility.

[EarthFirst]

50. What is this, fucking Bizzaro World?!

Where the fuck are we?

[RobinA]

65. Nah...

just Different World. Your enemy is your enemy and you his based on the environment in which you both exist. That environment has changed. Trump is a giant warp in the political cosmos, the matrix must adjust accordingly.

[milestogo]

51. When the devil himself is alarmed, it means

Hell, I don't know what it means.

[pangaia]

52. Well DICK, how would we ever have guessed he wants the Balkans without your informing us.

Of course there are are also the Czech Republic Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, Hungary, Moldavia (which Putin is already after), what did I leave out?

[llmart]

53. Take this with a grain of salt.

Cheney's an old fart with one foot in the grave (we hope) and he's just trying to stay relevant. No one talks about him any more so he has to find a reason to make a statement - an outrageous statement at that. "Act of War" That's all that old geezer ever has on his mind. He had just as many deferments as trump.

[Freedomofspeech]

56. My God...

Do I have to like Dick Cheny now? Just shoot me.

[joanbarnes]

57. Knock me over with a feather, I AGREE with Dick Cheney! (first, probably last time)

[peacebuzzard]

58. "Against all Enemies"

Richard Clarke comes to mind at this moment, and he might have a theory or two of this era of twilight zones and cyber warfare we have been thrust into. Thirteen years ago Clarke gave quite a foreboding warning of this moment in time.

I hope to sleep well one night soon.

[JI7]

61. Neocons are very anti russia so this is just part of that

[Kablooie]

62. Don't get taken in. Cheney is just itching for any excuse to start a war.

He doesn't care about them meddling in the election but it sounds like a great war starter so he's all for doing something about it.

After all, his company, Halliburton, is the primary supplier of military equipment.

[DeminPennswoods]

63. He's a "Cold Warrior"

No surprise.

[Amimnoch]

66. I'm soooo confused...

What a long strange trip it's been...

[alarimer]

67. When you agree with Cheney, it's probably time to question your beliefs. n/t