By The Bard of Wilmette from Eyesonobama.com:
Recently on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program, conservative pundit Joe Scarborough asked liberal pundit Ed Schultz if he truly believed that former Vice-president Dick Cheney hopes that there will be a successful attack on Americans by terrorists... in order to vindicate Mr. Cheney’s repeated claims that President Obama’s actions weaken America’s security.
Recently on MSNBC’s Morning Joe program, conservative pundit Joe Scarborough asked liberal pundit Ed Schultz if he truly believed that former Vice-president Dick Cheney hopes that there will be a successful attack on Americans by terrorists... in order to vindicate Mr. Cheney’s repeated claims that President Obama’s actions weaken America’s security. Mr. Schultz said unequivocally that this is exactly his belief. Mr. Scarborough responded with something like, "I like you personally, Ed, but I could not disagree with you more. I can understand your not liking Cheney, but do you really believe that he wants to see innocent Americans killed, just to prove a point?"
The truth is probably more complicated than that. On one level, Mr. Cheney does not want to see another successful terrorist attack in the U.S. or against Americans anywhere. As much as I detest Dick Cheney, I do not believe he is actively and consciously rooting for another ‘9/11" type of disaster. On the other hand, I do believe that Mr. Cheney bitterly resents the fact that many Americans, including Mr. Obama, have rejected many of the actions used by the Bush administration (and to a substantial degree, directed by Cheney) in the name of fighting terrorism. I believe it is very likely that the Bush presidency will be generally regarded as a failure by future historians. In addition, whether good or bad, there can be no serious dispute that Dick Cheney was an extremely powerful vice-president, and any verdict on the Bush ‘43’ presidency is largely a verdict on Cheney himself. He knows that he is unpopular right now, and he very much wants to be vindicated. There is not much else that is likely to acquit the Bush ‘43’ presidency, and they (Bush and Cheney) are effectively counting on "They kept us safe from the terrorists for 7 years" for their vindication. If they did keep us safe (as they would argue), then how dare the opponents (Obama and his political allies) question the methods they used to keep us safe? If the new administration obeys all laws – constitutional, international, and statutory – and there are still no successful terrorist attacks in the U.S., or against American targets elsewhere, that would cut into the Bush/Cheney argument that their legally and morally questionable methods were necessary.
In summary, while Mr. Cheney does not consciously want Americans killed by terrorists during President Obama’s watch, and he would be genuinely appalled by such a suggestion, I believe that he desperately wants his own record vindicated, and a successful terrorist attack while Obama is president is the only way he is likely to get it. In other words, I believe that Cheney has very mixed emotions regarding the prospect of another major terrorist attack against Americans.