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Lynne Cheney: Terrorist Attacks Worldwide Don’t Affect ‘American Interests’

A frequent Bush administration talking point in defense of the “war on terror” is claiming that United States has not been attacked since 9/11.

Yesterday, Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Cheney, reiterated this point on The Daily Show, claiming that terrorists regularly struck between 1993 and 2001 but not since 9/11. “It’s been more than six years. And that is not an accident. … There were many attacks between 1993 and the World Trade Centers coming down in 2001,” Cheney said.

Stewart rebutted Cheney’s claim by listing off the many terrorist attacks around the world since 9/11:

I mean, there was the anthrax thing. … [Terrorists] have been doing that all these past six years. The Spanish bombings, the English bombings, and then all the bombs in Iraq.

Cheney replied that attacks on other countries were not relevant to the discussion: “Yes, yes. But we’re talking about American interests.” The audience booed Cheney’s remarks. An incredulous Stewart responded, “Aren’t we interested in [attacks on those countries]? I’d assumed they were our allies.” Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/10/cheneystewart1.320.240.flv]

Worldwide terror attacks are rising as a result of the policies Cheney supports. A State Department terrorism report released this year showed a nearly 30 percent increase in worldwide terror attacks in 2006. Prior to an attempted terrorist attack in London in June, British experts warned that the war in Iraq had increased the threat of terror attacks on their country.

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A White House report released this week also stated that al Qaeda remains the “most serious and dangerous” terrorist threat and “is expected to intensify attempts to place agents inside the United States.”

Evidently, according to Cheney’s logic, even though almost 170,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq, bombings and terrorist attacks there don’t have anything to do with our nation’s “interests.”