For the Cheneys, Going to War with Iran is a Family Affair

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

Though the Bush dynasty has long been America's most notorious crime family, the current administration has been even more nepotistic towards the Cheney clan  -- with disastrous results. Take one of Cheney's daughters, for example. Elizabeth Cheney's husband was appointed general counsel for the Homeland Security Department (where he blatantly hindered and stalled multiple government investigations).

But Elizabeth herself is far more connected to political favoritism and neoconservatism within the government. And it might just help the Cheney back-office effort to lead us into war with Iran.

Her official role in the Bush Administration started in 2002. In those pre-Condi Rice days, the administration needed all the help it could get in the State Department. George Bush apparently couldn't find an existing job Elizabeth was qualified for, so Cheney had someone create a brand new one through which she could monitor and influence "Foggy Bottom": Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs.

Elizabeth Cheney was no impartial bureaucrat. She left the post after just a year to work for her father's reelection campaign, where she parroted the administration's mindless rhetoric and talking points.

After the election, the nepotism grew worse. In February 2005 she was appointed the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and Coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives (how's that for a job title?). Last year the Sunday Times reported her job entailed "responsibility for bringing about a different type of regime change in Iran."

In her new job, Elizabeth was given $85 million to "promote democracy in Iran," and we all know from the Iraq war what that means. Folks in the State Department call her the "freedom agenda coordinator" and the "democracy czar."

It doesn't get any more ironic than "democracy czar."

But that's not all. Elizabeth was also placed at the head of the brand new Office of Iranian Affairs, the reincarnation of the Office of Special Plans, who developed the Iraq invasion strategy. They apparently share the same Pentagon offices and many of the same personnel.

Upon the creation of the Office of Iranian Affairs last March, a State Department spokesperson would not give many details but said it would play a role in "transformational diplomacy." He added that its actions would be "consistent with programs and activities that we do around the world."

Two weeks ago Elizabeth Cheney gave a very telling portrayal of her political values and motivations. For some reason, the Washington Post decided to print her op-ed blasting Hillary Clinton for trying to end the war, titled "Retreat Isn't an Option." Despite her complete lack of any military experience whatsoever, Elizabeth proceeded to lecture us on such things as how "retreat from Iraq hurts us in the broader war" and why we can't support our troops by calling for them to be sent home. Like her father, Liz mysteriously called the battle with Islam "existential," when it seems pretty down to earth to the families of the dead GIs and Iraqis.

One can only imagine how Elizabeth may have used her $85 million budget to implement her neocon agenda, but it should be no coincidence that talk of war with Iran is starting to heat up -- and Elizabeth isn't peddling democracy; she's boosting bombs.

When our Founding Fathers were pondering the separation of powers and democracy, they could not have imagined such blatant nepotism. It's one thing to follow a parent to prominence based on your own merits, but quite another to be your father's puppet in a shadow government.

Even if Elizabeth Cheney actually deserved her appointments and was not another neocon drone, she should still have not been given such high-ranking positions in an area so controlled by her father. As one Washington insider put it, "her last name can make things difficult for her because people assume everything you tell her is going to go straight to the vice-president." Everyone Elizabeth oversaw vicariously had immediate pressure placed on them straight from the top, given that she was her father's eyes and ears on Mid-East policy in the State Department.

With poor leadership and even worse ideas, it should come as little surprise that the Iranian Affairs Office has been a complete failure. The Iranian regime shows no signs of collapse, and American officials recently claimed that Iran is responsible for the improved technology available to the Iraqi insurgence that has resulted in higher casualties.  The Cheney/Bushevik squad is adept at one thing: turning their own failures into an excuse for even more war.

Now that Liz has left Washington following the birth of little Dick II, her fifth child, our vote for her replacement is Jackson or Dave Cheney, the VP's Labradors.

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS

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