There is proof actually. There is a youtube video floating around where Cheney states (in 1994?) that invading Iraq would be a quagmire and not worth very many American lives to do so. I cannot post youtube links @ work...but its there.
That actually strengthens the case of Dubya's stupidity, actually. I think it's well understood that Cheney will change his lie to suit whatever environment he's in, sort of like a scumball-chameleon. Remember the context: in 1994 he was lying to make excuses for Bush Sr. not finishing what he started (and yes, H.W. Bush told Shia Iraqis to rise up against Saddam and the US would help in a very Bay of Pigs fashion). Ten years later, he's lying to make excuses for why Dubya went balls-out. It's highly unlikely the man honestly has any conviction one way or the other, because he doesn't tend to behave (politically and personally) like he has much regard for life outside of his own.
So, what it proves is Cheney is willing to tell opposite lies without any consideration of mutual exclusivity. But I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone around here who doesn't generally consider Cheney a lying scumball. He is to the Republican Party what Darth Vader was to the Empire: he's on their side, yet they don't really trust him, but they dare not speak out openly against him lest they suffer his swift and deadly wrath. '
You underestimate the power of Executive Privilege, general.'
What
is fairly well known, however, is that Cheney would (and kinda still does) keep right on pounding with the same military goals he and Rumsfeld seemed to share about the US Armed Forces-- one that relies heavily on technology and the thought that striking from a distance or with surgically-maneuvered forces is what makes for efficient warfare, usually in the process foregoing tried and tested tactics of old that require more troops and less techy-stuff hanging about to get broken, stop working in bad climates, or just not be as effective as planned. Bushy, Rummy, and Cheney's failure in this regard, which is one of the things I'm calling incredibly stupid, is that they forgot some simple aspects of warfare. You don't need radios and multiple-band frequencies to direct your troops through a battlefield, you just need sufficient familiarity with the terrain and enough pre-agreed signals for change in tactics as the fight progresses. The idiot brigade allowed the military to organize and conduct the initial invasion (of both Iraq and Afghanistan) according to their tried and true techniques, but then pulled the rug out from underneath many soldiers quickly by pulling huge numbers of troops back when the enemy was on the run. Whether you agree with the reasons for the war or not, the fact is that our military forces showed just how effective they could be during the invasions, and our leaders showed just how stupid they could be by hamstringing our forces when they should have allowed them to secure the places they took first. The casualties from the low-tech and scattered insurgencies didn't happen until
after the initial invasion rush, which is a good indicator of
stupidity and not wanton desire to force a quagmire.
But don't take my word for it. Go google the name "General Van Riper" and "wargames" to see for yourself.
Here is one good example of career military pointing out to the administration that their love affair with high-tech was going to be problematic. When Rumsfeld finally resigned loads of career military breathed a collective sigh of relief (though things didn't necessarily get better, but that's more the conductors' of the Stupid Train's fault).
This is why I repeatedly bring up Hanlon's Razor, HH. If you really want to find yourself a conspiracy, there's a great, huge, gaping conspiracy of stupid that can be found, but you're going to be disappointed when you don't find some evil geniuses orchestrating everything, only to find a few draft-dodgers and their gung-ho buddies who have had their heads so far up their rectums that they could see what they had for lunch that day. You'll see a bunch of soldiers busting their humps to try to match up to impossible standards of a few overgrown children who can't strategize their way out of their own continued blunders, let alone lead some vast conspiracy of NWO shadowmen into some form of global domination.
To be honest, I find that to be even
more tragic.
