Source: The Associated Press
Author: Steven R. Hurst

WASHINGTON (AP) — Dick Cheney’s autobiography presents a robust defense of his push for the U.S. invasion of Iraq without critically examining two issues central to America’s near-failure in the war: the Bush administration’s decision to disband the country’s army and banish all members of Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party.

Cheney has said that “In My Time” would cause “heads to explode” in Washington, and it is juicy reading for its harsh criticism of two secretaries of state, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice, and one defense secretary, Robert Gates. Not surprising was Cheney’s adulation of Gates’ Pentagon predecessor, Donald H. Rumsfeld, the vice president’s political mentor.

Cheney’s parting shot after decades of public service comes in the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The book has rekindled debate over the rationale to attack Iraq in 2003 and the cost in American lives and dollars. It also has focused attention on whether the war diverted U.S. attention from catching al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden and eradicating the group’s hide-outs in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Cheney and former President George W. Bush had said invading Iraq and removing Saddam was imperative after Sept. 11. They insisted Saddam was working with bin Laden and that Iraq had amassed weapons of mass destruction to use against its neighbors or to give to al-Qaida for use against America.

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