WASHINGTON, June 26: America’s policy on Pakistan is essentially run from the office of Vice-President Dick Cheney who enjoys unprecedented power in the Bush administration, reveal a series of reports published in the Washington Post, New York Times and the Harper’s magazine.
Four front page articles in the Post look at the way Mr Cheney influences key foreign policy decisions, concluding that he is the most powerful American vice-president ever.
The reports claim that Mr Cheney is close to President Gen Pervez Musharraf and “refuses to brook any US criticism of him.”
A Washington Post report notes that Mr Cheney’s influence over US policies towards Pakistan is so strong that even opposition Pakistani politicians recognise it. In recent months, several Pakistani opposition politicians visiting Washington have been ushered in to meet Mr Cheney’s aides, rather than taken to the State Department.
“Mr Cheney’s office has been linked to some of the most damaging and reckless policies carried out under President Bush, including the origins of the war in Iraq, unauthorised domestic spying, the historic expansion of executive authority and the sanctioning of torture,” notes Harper’s magazine. “It’s no surprise to find Mr Cheney’s fingerprints on the failing US-Pakistan policy as well.”
The magazine claims that the Cheney family axis “runs from the White House to the Department of State,” where his eldest daughter Elizabeth Cheney is Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State For Near Eastern Affairs.
Other reports spoke of a fierce power struggle within the administration over how to manage the deteriorating situation relating to Iran, with Mr Cheney’s office tacitly favouring a military solution to the crisis.
The Post reports that Mr Cheney’s office also formulated the interrogation guidelines for Guantanamo prisoners.
