Well, looks like Cheney's plan is coming together. Through his trip, Cheney loudly proclaimed that Democrats were "encouraging Al Qaeda.". Then, I remembered this:
Hersh: Bush Funneling Money to al Qaeda-Related Groups
ThinkProgress.com
Sunday 25 February 2007
New Yorker columnist Sy Hersh says the "single most explosive" element of his latest article involves an effort by the Bush administration to stem the growth of Shiite influence in the Middle East (specifically the Iranian government and Hezbollah in Lebanon) by funding violent Sunni groups
Dick Cheney's sending money to violent Sunni groups that hate the US so they can attack Hezbollah and Iran (and the Iraqi Shiites). Cheney's no idiot, he KNOWS that's how Bush's buddy Osama got started - which leads back to the "Democrats are encouraging Al Qaeda" thread. He's laying the groundwork to blame the Democrats for the blowback from Cheney's current policies. More Below
Consider these two articles:
Feisty Cheney Fires Long-Distance Shots
By ROHAN SULLIVAN
The Associated Press
Saturday, February 24, 2007; 7:25 PM
SYDNEY, Australia -- Vice President Dick Cheney, in a series of blunt and sometimes biting statements during a visit to Asia, defended the Iraq war, attacked administration critics at home and warned that the U.S. would confront potential adversaries abroad.
...
In Japan, Cheney asserted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's opposition to President Bush's troop buildup in Iraq would "validate the al-Qaida strategy."
Meanwhile, back at the "vice" president's office:
THE REDIRECTION
Is the Administration’s new policy benefitting our enemies in the war on terrorism?
by SEYMOUR M. HERSH
Issue of 2007-03-05
Posted 2007-02-25
...
American, European, and Arab officials I spoke to told me that the Siniora government and its allies had allowed some aid to end up in the hands of emerging Sunni radical groups in northern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley, and around Palestinian refugee camps in the south. These groups, though small, are seen as a buffer to Hezbollah; at the same time, their ideological ties are with Al Qaeda.
During a conversation with me, the former Saudi diplomat accused Nasrallah of attempting "to hijack the state," but he also objected to the Lebanese and Saudi sponsorship of Sunni jihadists in Lebanon. "Salafis are sick and hateful, and I'm very much against the idea of flirting with them," he said. "They hate the Shiites, but they hate Americans more. If you try to outsmart them, they will outsmart us. It will be ugly."
Cheney knows how dangerous this is, and how big a threat he's creating for us in the future. However, so long as he can blame any resulting damages on the Democrats, Cheney and Bush figure it's a win-win: either their strategy succeeds, or they blame the failure on those pesky Democrats.
Scum.