Rand Paul: Dick Cheney used 9/11 as excuse to invade Iraq for the benefit of Halliburton

Rand Paul: Dick Cheney used 9/11 as excuse to invade Iraq for the benefit of Halliburton
(rawstory.com)

Original source here:
WATCH: Rand Paul Says Dick Cheney Pushed for the Iraq War so Halliburton Would Profit
(motherjones.com)

Last week, continuing the sometimes catty intra-party feud between Republican hawks and GOPers skeptical of foreign interventions, Vice President Dick Cheney took a shot at Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). But Paul is not likely to be fazed by criticism from the former vice president, for several years ago the Kentucky senator was pushing the conspiratorial notion that Cheney exploited the horrific 9/11 attacks to lead the nation into war in Iraq in order to benefit Halliburton, the enormous military contractor where Cheney had once been CEO.

From a 2009 speech before Western Kentucky University Republican students;



Jump to the 6:30 mark:

Paul said:

There’s a great YouTube of Dick Cheney in 1995 defending Bush Number One , and he goes on for about five minutes. He’s being interviewed, I think, by the American Enterprise Institute, and and he says it would be a disaster, it would be vastly expensive, it’d be civil war, we would have no exit strategy. He goes on and on for five minutes. Dick Cheney saying it would be a bad idea. And that’s why the first Bush didn’t go into Baghdad. Dick Cheney then goes to work for Halliburton. Makes hundreds of millions of dollars, their CEO. Next thing you know, he’s back in government and it’s a good idea to go into Iraq.

Paul continued:

The day after 9/11, George Tenet is going in the House and Richard Perle is coming out of the White House. And George Tenet should know more about intelligence than anybody in the world, and the first thing Richard Perle says to him on the way out is, ‘We’ve got it, now we can go into Iraq.’ And George Tenet, who supposedly knows as much intelligence as anybody in the White House says, ‘Well, don’t we need to know that they have some connection to 9/11?’ And, he says, ‘It doesn’t matter.’ It became an excuse. 9/11 became an excuse for a war they already wanted in Iraq.

Paul said the same think in 2008, during his father's presidential run, speaking to supporters at a rally, referring again to this YT clip of Cheney:

It’s Dick Cheney in 1995 being interviewed on why they didn’t go into Baghdad the first time under the first George Bush. And his arguments are exactly mirroring my dad’s arguments for why we shouldn’t have gone in this time. It would be chaos. There’d be a civil war. There’d be no exit strategy. And cost a blue bloody fortune in both lives and treasure. And this is Dick Cheney saying this. But, you know, a couple hundred million dollars later Dick Cheney earns from Halliburton, he comes back into government. Now Halliburton’s got a billion-dollar no-bid contract in Iraq. You know, you hate to be so cynical that you think some of these corporations are able to influence policy, but I think sometimes they are. Most of the people on these committees have a million dollars in their bank account all from different military industrial contractors. We don’t want our defense to be defined by people who make money off of the weapons.

9/11 became the perfect excuse for neocons to "reshape" the geopolitical environment of the Middle East, no matter the cost to the American taxpayer or the cost in lives. While this notion isn't new, it's refreshing to see it coming from the mouths of our politicians. At least some of them have their eyes open. I may not agree with Rand Paul on some political issues, but at least he is not a neocon.

No... You dont say.. I thought this was common knowledge by now..
Look at companies and shareholders and you will see why we are sitting in the middle east.. Oh and because of Iran to..

But stupid is is stupid does..

reply to post by Blackmarketeer

9/11 became the perfect excuse for neocons to "reshape" the geopolitical environment of the Middle East, - See more at: www.abovetopsecret.com...

The perfect excuse. About as perfect as the maneuver a loaded 747 had to perform before impacting a building at ground level. Perfect.

Never forget;


Jones report

Norman Mineta Confirms That Dick Cheney Ordered Stand Down on 9/11
Former Transportation Secretary Disputes 9/11 Commission Report Timetable for Dick Cheney and Reveals Lynn Cheney Was Also in PEOC Bunker Before Attack

If nothing else, at least we have people on Capitol Hill willing to expose the crooks who used to be in office. If only they'd expose the crooks currently in office.

Oh snap! Thems fightin words Rand.
Can you hear the buzz of darth cheneys drone army comin for ya?
All i can say is, duh. We all knew that on ats long long ago.

dashen
Oh snap! Thems fightin words Rand.
Can you hear the buzz of darth cheneys drone army comin for ya?
All i can say is, duh. We all knew that on ats long long ago.

True, "we" all knew that, but it is nice when "we" includes a notable politician or two (so far, Paul and Ventura...)

reply to post by loveguy



You're right, we should never forget!

This makes me almost paranoid about Cheney's recent statements about the fear of an EMP being triggered in the US. How much power does the man really have and should we heed his latest warning more than we know? An EMP is by no means anything new so why does he feel the need to warn of this now?

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Good to see this is getting out there, there some that still think that only reason we went to iraq was the WMD situation.
Its crazy how much money cheney went on to make

This is another reason why Paul won't get the nomination for president. The war machine will not allow anyone into office that stands in the way of their profit.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


"...and in other news, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead."

No 2nd required.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


I am begining to ask myself why I keep coming to many of these postings.
I guess I am hoping to find some new and interesting news.
Or atleast something which I didn't pretty much already know.

I am not saying these threads should stop, by any means.
I am just saying that I have heard these same things over and over and yet nothing ever comes of them. Surely there is enough proof of these charges out there to lock some of these guys up.

Well, there goes any chance he may have had at becoming POTUS

The biggest flaw in this so called argument.

Is China is the biggest beneficiary of Iraq's oil.

Namely it's state owned PetroChina.

BAGHDAD — Since the American-led invasion of 2003, Iraq has become one of the world’s top oil producers, and China is now its biggest customer

www.nytimes.com...

The worlds first trillion dollar oil company.

PetroChina became the world's first trillion-dollar company yesterday after shares in the business almost tripled in value on its flotation on the Shanghai stock market.

www.theguardian.com...

Back to rehashing a decade old political 'argument'.

neo96
The biggest flaw in this so called argument.

Is China is the biggest beneficiary of Iraq's oil.

Namely it's state owned PetroChina.

BAGHDAD — Since the American-led invasion of 2003, Iraq has become one of the world’s top oil producers, and China is now its biggest customer

www.nytimes.com...

The worlds first trillion dollar oil company.

PetroChina became the world's first trillion-dollar company yesterday after shares in the business almost tripled in value on its flotation on the Shanghai stock market.

www.theguardian.com...

Back to rehashing a decade old political 'argument'.

edit on 7-4-2014 by neo96 because: (no reason given)

Yes it's the same old story Americans pay for the war Americans die fighting the war and another nation benefits from it. Isn't it nice of America to do that for the Chinese.

reply to post by buster2010

Yes it's the same old story Americans pay for the war Americans die fighting the war and another nation benefits from it. Isn't it nice of America to do that for the Chinese. -

It is the same old demagoguery because for what ever reason some people don't want to discuss the current administration.

So instead they recycle a decade old 'argument' ad inifnitum which is hardly 'breaking political news'.

reply to post by Blackmarketeer


Everyone knows Iraq was a war based on lies, but YOURE NOT SUPPOSED TO SAY IT.

Rand knows how to play politics but he dropped the ball on this one.

I'm afraid that this is really going to piss off the blue bloods and the typical GOP electorate who view criticism of Bush and Cheney as treasonous.

Adelson and Co have already made it clear that they will block Rand from getting the nomination because he's not enough of a war mongering neo-con.

This wont help.

neo96
reply to post by buster2010

 

Yes it's the same old story Americans pay for the war Americans die fighting the war and another nation benefits from it. Isn't it nice of America to do that for the Chinese. -

It is the same old demagoguery because for what ever reason some people don't want to discuss the current administration.

So instead they recycle a decade old 'argument' ad inifnitum which is hardly 'breaking political news'.

edit on 7-4-2014 by neo96 because: (no reason given)

...said the pot to the kettle.

LOL.

The topic of this thread has absolutely zero to do with the current administration.

I am constantly amazed by how blinded people can become by their political views. Just because you like one side doesn't mean they're always right. And just because you hate the other side, doesn't mean they're always wrong.

Thank you very much, Senator Obvious. Finally picked up on this, and only a decade after everyone else.

I'm glad Rand finally read the "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" page on wikipedia.

Bravo!