Dick Cheney, the controversial power behind the Bush throne, dead at 84

Unlike astir politicians, Dick Cheney didn’t attraction if helium was liked.

“If you privation to beryllium loved, past spell beryllium a movie star,” helium said successful the 2013 documentary, I americium Dick Cheney.

That presumption didn’t halt him from becoming the astir almighty vice president successful the past of the United States. And it afforded Cheney the heavy tegument helium needed to upwind crisp disapproval of his tactics during the alleged “war connected terror” pursuing the 9/11 attacks connected New York and Washington.

Cheney died connected Monday, aged 84, owed to complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, according to a connection issued by his family. He had suffered heart-related problems for overmuch of his big life.

“Dick Cheney was a large and bully antheral who taught his children and grandchildren to emotion our country, and to unrecorded lives of courage, honor, love, kindness, and alert fishing,” the household said successful its statement.

But to millions astir the world, helium was besides a profoundly divisive figure, his bequest tainted by bloodshed and chaos pursuing the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, lies astir Baghdad’s non-existent weapons of wide demolition (WMDs), home cyber-snooping and the torture of Guantanamo Bay inmates.

Contemporaries saw him arsenic the powerfulness down the throne of President George W Bush, utilizing his governmental clout and acumen to predominate his brag and hatch the “war connected terror” and different neoconservative plans.

“Cheney has to beryllium counted among the astir influential Americans of the past 40 years. He was the consummate bureaucratic operator,” Jake Bernstein, co-author of Vice: Dick Cheney and the Hijacking of the American Presidency, told Al Jazeera.

“He engineered his ain enactment arsenic vice president and utilized what was often a ceremonial station to alteration US policy. His bequest continues: the surveillance society, the reputational stain of state-sponsored torture, the nonaccomplishment to woody with clime alteration and the bloat of backstage subject contractors are conscionable a fewer areas successful which his imprint lingers.”

Cheney was calved successful Nebraska and grew up successful Casper, a calm and pleasant lipid metropolis successful Wyoming, with his hard-working, Democrat-voting parents: Marjorie and Richard Herbert Cheney, a ungraded absorption expert.

He abandoned a assistance astatine Yale University and fell into a losing streak of blue-collar jobs and drunk-driving tickets, but re-booted his vocation arsenic a governmental subject student and joined the tumult of Washington politics.

He became chap neoconservative Donald Rumsfeld’s protege. They forged a duo that led Republican administrations for decades — Rumsfeld was Bush’s defence secretary. Observers noted however the 2 men finished each other’s sentences and dubbed them the Praetorian Guard for their Roman-like disciplined efficacy.

By 1975, Cheney was main of unit of the Gerald Ford White House, the youngest idiosyncratic to clasp the post. Later, arsenic a House Representative for Wyoming, Cheney was a traditionalist dependable connected abortion, weapon power and the environment.

“The astute young congressman, Dick Cheney, was a deed successful Washington: a exemplary of the practical, get-things-done blimpish and a leader, close retired of the box,” Leslie Gelb, erstwhile president of the Council connected Foreign Relations, a deliberation tank, told Al Jazeera successful 2015.

“Over time, helium grew convinced that the state needed a hardliner, and helium had the credentials to instrumentality that posture,” said Gelb, who died successful 2019.

Cheney bucked the inclination of old-fashioned Republicanism successful 1 cardinal aspect. Mary, the younger of 2 daughters with his high-school sweetheart and wife, Lynne, is simply a lesbian. The Cheneys were opposed to banning same-sex marriage.

As caput of defence nether President George HW Bush (1989-93), Cheney scaled backmost subject spending arsenic the Soviet Union fell isolated and ran palmy campaigns successful Panama and against Iraqi person Saddam Hussein’s forces successful Kuwait.

“Back then, helium was disciplined, blimpish and careful; utilizing further subject spot and limiting a war’s goals truthful arsenic to execute its objectives. He knew that starting a warfare meant that you besides needed to triumph it,” Michael O’Hanlon, a defence adept astatine the Brookings Institution, told Al Jazeera.

But that cognition appeared to person changed implicit the pursuing decade, by the clip the US was processing its effect to 9/11.

“As vice president, helium favoured little cautious mentation for the post-Saddam, post-Taliban environments successful Iraq and Afghanistan. He utilized doubly arsenic galore radical to evict Saddam from Kuwait arsenic the George W Bush medication did to overthrow Iraq’s authorities and past effort to stabilise the state afterwards,” O’Hanlon said.

In 1995, with Democrats successful the White House, Cheney became CEO of Halliburton. The US lipid and engineering steadfast has been embroiled successful contention implicit biology harm and its increasing database of US subject contracts.

“As CEO of Halliburton, Cheney was a cardinal fig successful the aboriginal past of the ‘privatised subject industry’ that nowadays encompasses hundreds of firms, thousands of employees and billions of dollars successful revenue,” Peter Singer, writer of Corporate Warriors, told Al Jazeera.

“The privatisation of warfare has allowed startling caller capabilities and efficiencies successful however warfare is carried out, but the instauration of the nett motive onto the battlefield raises troubling questions for democracy, ethics, management, quality rights and nationalist security.”

September  11, 2001, attacks

Back successful the White House successful 2001, Cheney brought successful his trusted partner, Rumsfeld, arsenic defence secretary, and brought allies successful to different tiers of administration.

On September 11 of that year, Cheney was successful the White House, deciding whether to sprout down the past airborne hijacked rider jet, erstwhile Bush was speechmaking The Pet Goat with schoolchildren successful Florida.

As the US launched regime-toppling attacks connected Afghanistan and Iraq, Cheney was implicated successful the readying of the wars that ignored facts and — successful the lawsuit of the struggle successful Iraq — the United Nations charter. As the wars dragged on, sidesplitting tens of thousands of people, devastating the attacked countries and draining US resources, the disapproval mounted. By 2008, erstwhile Barack Obama swept to power, the nation’s temper had turned decisively against the wars.

Cheney’s justification for the penetration of Iraq successful 2003 – Saddam Hussein’s concealed WMDs – turned retired to beryllium bogus. Dismantling Iraq’s service and Baath enactment near the federation ungoverned and prone to the destabilising tactics of al-Qaeda and the ISIL (ISIS) equipped groups.

“He was a misfit with his hawkish usage of accepted subject unit successful the 21st century, erstwhile the force was little often a accepted federation state, which responds to threats of force, but sub-groups that were not intimidated by US subject might,” added Gelb successful 2015.

Cheney loved hunting — successful 2006, helium accidentally changeable a Texas lawyer and friend, Harry Whittington, with a hunting shotgun portion they were shooting quail. Whittington survived aft large operations.

As vice president, Cheney besides helped plan a 9/11 effect that saw accrued authorities cyber-snooping connected US citizens and the harsh interrogations of “terrorism suspects” astatine Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and a planetary web of alleged “black sites”.

Even aft a Congressional survey recovered that utilizing specified “enhanced interrogation” techniques arsenic waterboarding, hooding and slumber deprivation were brutal and ineffective successful 2014, Cheney defended his choices.

The study was “full of crap”, Cheney said. Hunting down the killers of much than 3,000 World Trade Center victims and stopping much al-Qaeda attacks trumped ineligible niceties, helium said. “I would bash it again successful a minute,” helium added.