http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/in-the-loop/wp/2014/09/08/former-vp-cheney-meeting-with-house-gop-as-iraq-strategy-debated/By Colby Itkowitz September 8 at 4:46 PM
The leading architect of the Iraq War will be on Capitol Hill Tuesday for a private chat with House Republicans, just as Congress is grappling again with how involved the United States should be in the region’s snowballing unrest.
Yes, that would be former Vice President Dick Cheney, one of the war’s most ardent defenders to this day. He was invited by the campaign arm of the Republicans to come speak at the first GOP weekly conference meeting since Congress’ five-week break, a House GOP official confirmed to the Loop.
With the midterm elections nearing, the get-together was originally intended to focus more on politics than policy, and is being held at the Republican National Committee headquarters. And so it’s pure coincidence that Cheney will be the guest speaker just as Iraq returns to the headlines.
While the rationale for the 2003 war has been largely debunked, Cheney maintains that the goals of Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda were one in the same. (In July, our very own Fact Checker Glenn Kessler gave that claim three Pinocchios out of a possible four.)
With President Obama expected to lay out a strategy for fighting ISIS on Wednesday, Cheney will certainly have a few words of wisdom to share on the topic of killing terrorists.
In recent interviews, Cheney has issued dire warnings about ignoring the militant group, saying inaction will result in an attack worse than Sept. 11. President Bill Clinton has said Cheney created ISIS by invading Iraq in the first place.
