CHENEY ON HAGEL

From AttyTood via Atrios:

Here's what the vice president told CNN three days ago (via Atrios and Daily Kos):

Since 9/11, we've had people like Chuck Hagel and other politicians and we've had people in the press corps and commentators who've said we can't do Afghanistan.

In fact, as a quick check of the Nexis data base shows, possibly no senator was more strident that Nebraska Republican Hagel in insisting that the response to the 9/11 attacks should be a military one.

But this is what Hagel told the CBS "Early Show" on Sept. 12, the day after the attacks (from Nexis, no link):

Sen. HAGEL: We're at war with the great scourge of our time, terrorism, and nothing short of--of killing it is--is going to change anything. Just as Franklin Roosevelt said after Pearl Harbor, 1940, 'Thi--this--this is not just the matter of a glancing-blow response.' We must destroy the heart of terrorism, and that will require all of the civilized world coming together, not just the United States.

And this is what Hagel told the Omaha World-Herald on Oct. 8, 2001, the day after the U.S. launched its first air strikes in Afghanistan (again, from Nexis):

After waiting nearly a month, the time to respond had come, said
Hagel, who was told Sunday morning of the planned airstrikes by Richard
Armitage, Secretary of State Colin Powell's top deputy.
"This wasn't done is some quick draw gunslinger kind of way," said Hagel. "This isn't just a strike against Osama bin Laden. We are at war against terrorism everywhere."
Hagel said the United States had to retaliate against the slaughter of innoncent
citizens to foster stability in the world. It also needed to harness the
international coalition's might while momentum remained high.

In other words, what the hell is Dick Cheney talking about? When they were at the top of their warped game, there was a method to the madness of Cheney, Rove, Rumsfeld & Co.
Now, there's madness without method.
And a U.S. senator has been slandered.

This reminds me of the VP debate when Cheney claimed it was the first time he saw Edwards. Of course, Cheney was lying then and he's lying now.