Cheney - #1 Defense Cutter
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| Sun, 08-15-2004 - 6:58pm |
- Dick Cheney quoted in the Washington Post, 12/16/84
"Vice President Dick Cheney, who has been charging that John Kerry would be a dangerous president because he opposed many key weapons that the military now relies on, himself presided over the biggest cutbacks in defense programs in modern history when he was secretary of defense under the first President Bush.
As Pentagon chief from 1989 to 1993 Cheney canceled or cut back many of the same weapons programs – bombers, fighter planes, battle tanks – that he says Kerry tried to deprive the armed forces of."
"Yet Cheney canceled the B-2 bomber program after 20 planes, even though the Air Force insisted it needed 132. He opposed upgrading the M1 Abrams tank, recommended killing the latest model of the F-14 fighter jet and opposed buying more F-15s."
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040429/news_1n29cheney.html

I was interested to see what Cheney's job was at the time he said that first quote (if you're gonna rule out SS cuts and a tax increase, then you've got to cut defense...) He was serving as a congressman from Wyoming.