Cheney says if Kerry had been president, Soviet Union likely would still exist

AP ^ | October 23, 2004 | MARK EVANS

[Tailgunner Joe]

The Soviet Union might still exist and Saddam Hussein might control the Persian Gulf and possess nuclear weapons had Democrat John Kerry been president when the United States faced those regimes, Vice President Dick Cheney said Saturday.

"I think it's a good thing that he wasn't in charge," Cheney said.

Kerry asserted Friday that had he been president during the war in Afghanistan, terrorist leader Osama bin Laden would be in captivity or dead. The Democratic nominee has long criticized President Bush for abandoning the pursuit of the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks so that U.S. forces could invade Iraq and topple Saddam.

Contending that the Massachusetts senator was "claiming that the world would be a whole lot better if he had been president," Cheney suggested to supporters at a rally that he believed the world would be far worse off.

"Let's go back to the 1970s when John Kerry was saying that we should only deploy U.S. troops under the authority of the United Nations," the vice president said, citing a statement Kerry made in 1970 after returning from Vietnam service. "One way the world might look if he had been in charge is, we would have ceded our right to defend ourselves to the United Nations."

Cheney said Kerry campaigned for the Senate on a platform of opposing major weapons systems that, during the Reagan administration, helped win the Cold War. "So if John Kerry had been in charge, maybe the Soviet Union would still be in business," the vice president said.

Kerry voted against going to war in the Persian Gulf in 1991 after Saddam had invaded Kuwait. "So if John Kerry had been in charge, Saddam might well control the Persian Gulf today," Cheney said.

[jmstein7]

Nice!

[snugs]

Several points here one of which is caution and the others one to be proud of.

1) The cautionary one first - the RATS think you already have Cheney/Bush and IMHO to speak almost wistfully of this undermines the Presidency.

2) In fact IMHO in a positive and in no way undermining GWB position you almost have a joint Presidency. Never have a President and Vice President worked so closely with daily meetings plus a personal relationship which goes back to GWB time as Governor in Texas when dare I say it Cheney was CEO at Haliburton.

3) Cheney provides wise counsel to your President but your President is an intelligent man and knows when to take this advise and when to go with his point of view.

4) In a post 9/11 mindset this relationship has also taken on further importance not only because of Cheney's Secretary of Defence experience but also because of added threats to the President. That is why the choice of Vice President is more important now than at any time. Cheney fits that role perfectly and in GWB's own words "Cheney could be President - next".

5) You have the best of both worlds the charisma of Bush and the experience and calmness of Cheney. He manages and handles pressure and stress like we eat breakfast. IMHO his heart problems have never been due to stress if so he would never have coped with the first Gulf War, personal attacks on him and his family and most importantly 9/11.

6) GWB respects and needs Cheney and IMHO Cheney will see the full 4 years out as VP because Bush wants him to. The only way this may not happen is if the GOP insist in putting in a candiate in the mid term who could run as President 2008 but I do not see it because GWB will not want that. If they do then my prediction is that Liz Perry (Cheney) will run for office of some sort in the mid term and Dick and Lynne will campaign full time for her. Lynne on the Bush/Cheney website has already said she fancies running an election campaign for one of her daughters or even grandchildren in the years to come.

[Swede Girl]

"So if John Kerry had been in charge, maybe the Soviet Union would still be in business," the vice president said.

Cheney should have said the Soviet Union "would definitely" still be in business, not "maybe"!!!

[weegee]

Well THAT'S one way to make sure that the hard left turns out at the polls to vote FOR Kerry.

[weegee]

John Kerry would also be a recipient of the Neville Chamberlain "peace in our lifetime" award...

[Republic]

LOL!!! < with a certain degree of disdain and disgust! >

[jwalsh07]

Cheneys right but incomplete. Not only would the Soviet Union still exist, Saddam Hussein would be Emperor of the Middle East if Kerry had gotten his way.

[Ptarmigan]

If John Kerry was president during the Cold War, we would be speaking Russian and end up in a Gulag and die a slow and painful death.

[sevry]

Evans - YOU LOSER! - it's not "Cheney says if Kerry had been president, Soviet Union likely would still exist", it's a DEAD CERT there'd still be a Soviet Union.

MARK EVANS - say what you will.

[kfowler1]

Cheney is, as Rush would say, "so right in so many ways"

[Lord Nelson]

Indeed. Their were rumours that the Soviets were in such a state of desperation and all out invasion of the US was considered in the early 80s. I really don't know if their is any truth to that?

It is amazing it lasted so long. What's more amazing is how many time socialism has been attempted (by force or by choice) and has failed.

[Lady C]

Apparen'tly Gorbachev had something to do with the end of the Soviet Union. Also the long haired freaky people were very prominent in the 80's.

[Lady C]

Well, there is only one way to know for sure.... we need to build a time machine. This is impossible though because of the singularity,and the only way to utilize our physical properties to travel through time would involve it (they are like black holes)... so the truth will never be known for sure. The real question here is whether or not the Civil War ever would have taken place if John Kerry were up against Lincoln? who knows...

[Lord Nelson]

Yes, too many of them today too.

[Bandaneira]

If Kerry had been the American President for the last thirty years, Enver Hoxha's Albania would be the worlds leader.

[RightWhale]

Saddam might well own the Persian Gulf if Kerry had been President.

The USSR was headed out the door on its own and Reagan helped it transition peacefully--they could have had a horrible civil war if Kerry had been President for that time period.

[T. Buzzard Trueblood]

If Kerry had had his way, not only would the Soviet Union still exist, they would control Afghanistan, Grenada and Central America.

Oh yeah, and Eastern Europe, too.

[pryncessraych]

If Kerry had been President During WWII all of Europe would be speaking German!