Analysis: Cheney's commencement speech at West Point

Earlier this morning during a commencement speech at West Point, Dick Cheney tried to justify why we are in Iraq today:

Their (the terrorists') ultimate goal is to establish atotalitarian empire, a caliphate, with Baghdad as its capital. Theyview the world as a battlefield and they yearn to hit us again.  And nowthey have chosen to make Iraq the central front in their war againstcivilization.  In Iraq today, the al Qaeda network that struck America is one of theelements trying to destroy a democratic government.

...America is fighting this enemy in Iraq because thatis where they have gathered.

Of course, Cheney did not correctly state that al Qaeda was not welcomed in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and that it wasn't until we began our occupation there when al Qaeda made it their central front.

His logic is disturbingly stunning.  Al Qaeda is there in mass because of our occupation.  So in order to win, we will have to kill every single member of the network in Iraq, hope that the organization has a 0% recruitment rate, and hope that no new foreign al Qaeda fighters enter the country.  Those are odds that not even a chronic gambler would bet on.

But that's okay, Cheney.  Keep going:

And we are there because the security of this nation depends on asuccessful outcome.

Just because you want an outcome does not mean you can obtain it.

Then, to top it all off, Cheney dropped this line:

Yet there's reason forconfidence as more locals get into the fight, as more good intelligencecomes in, as the government stays focused on the hard work of nationalreconciliation.

And how is it a good thing when more locals join neighborhood militias?

You can view the full text of his speech here.