War Criminal Dick Cheney Dead at 84, With Blood of Millions on His Hands

"Cheney is perhaps best known for his work as the architect of the "war on terror," leading the U.S. into the post-9/11 wars that have killed at least 4.5 million people and counting over two decades, and displaced 38 million people so far. Under President George W. Bush and alongside Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Cheney forever changed the U.S.'s approach to war, the hunt for "terrorists," and the surveillance and criminalization of Muslim communities across the U.S."

"Cheney exercised unprecedented power in the office of the vice president, acting as the de facto president as he propagated the lie of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and subsequently laid waste to Afghanistan, Iraq, and numerous other countries across the Middle East. When reports uncovered the U.S. military's horrific abuses in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay, Cheney sought to use the umbrella of "fighting terrorism" to justify what others called war crimes."

Dick Cheney died at 84 from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, and his family described him as a "good man" and a "noble giant." He served as vice president and defense secretary, exercising unprecedented power and acting as a de facto president during the George W. Bush administration. Cheney advanced the "war on terror," promoted the false weapons-of-mass-destruction claim in Iraq, and helped lead military actions that contributed to millions of deaths and tens of millions of displacements. His policies expanded surveillance, criminalized Muslim communities, defended abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay, and strengthened executive-authoritarian practices.

Read at Truthout