the other Cheney daughter Elizabeth's mouth has been open

[ensho]

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/JF10Ak02.html


Hawks still circling on Iran


-snip-

But I am also referring to another Cheney, namely Elizabeth, the former deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs and Cheney's daughter, who, during the opening plenary session of the AIPAC conference last Monday, took every opportunity to attack the policies of her former boss, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Liz was particularly harsh on Rice's pet project, the effort to gain at least a framework peace accord between Israel and the Palestinian Authority before Bush leaves office, arguing that the Annapolis Middle East peace process was a waste of time compared to the importance of dealing with Iran in what she called a "zero-sum game".

"When we focus on that kind of arrangement , we don't have time to focus on Iran," she declared, suggesting as well that Tehran's leadership was not "rational" and that previous efforts to engage it had also been a waste of time, or worse. Iran needs to be convinced that if it doesn't heed United Nations Security Council demands to halt enrichment, "They will face military action. We do not have the luxury of time," she said to (surprisingly) scattered applause.

Third, Liz Cheney's remarks should be seen in the context of a more concerted attack by the hawks on Rice of which the recent hatchet job by the Weekly Standard's by Stephen Hayes, the vice president's favorite reporter, was perhaps the most important piece. Hayes accused Rice of betraying the Bush Doctrine and focused much of his essay on her backing for US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill's negotiations over the past year with North Korea, on which the State Department has already been forced on the defensive.

Now comes Liz's top-to-bottom repudiation of Rice's Middle East policy - from favoring Palestinian elections in 2006, to initiating the Annapolis summit in Maryland last year and then inviting Syria to attend it, to welcoming last month's Doha agreement on Lebanon. All of which, she charged, had given Iran a "real choke-hold on the region".

-snip-

Not only did she sound defensive in her own speech to AIPAC last Tuesday morning, but she assumed a more-hawkish tone on Iran than she had previously. And, as noted by the New York Times, she was also markedly more doubtful about achieving even a framework agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians by the end of Bush's term than ever before.

-snip-

So, even if Cheney neutralizes Rice in the battle for Bush's mind - or gut - he still faces some formidable obstacles. But I think he has made some progress.
-----------------------------

[atreides1]

1. A Chip Off the Old Block

Just like dad her dad, all talk.

Hey Liz "Go F**k Yourself"

[ensho]

3. it is not 'all talk' - look what snake cheney has accomplished

since 2000. everything he and they wanted.

[lovuian]

2. Cheney has planted his children in big Intel places

He is definitely infiltrating and using her to get information

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

4. isn't condi's policy bush's policy?

can the SOS and the POTUS have a different policy? is liz attacking bush then?

[kwassa]

5. She drank the kool-aid at Daddy's knee.

The great failure of Bush foreign policy initiatives seems to have no effect on the delusional, including the perpetrators like Dick Cheney. I always wondered how Rice, who comes from the more moderate "realist" school got suckered in by the far right idealogues, but there she was. She is now reverting back to a more moderate stance in the face of the overwhelming disaster the Bush administration has created.