Page 3 Profile: Dick Cheney, Former US vice-president

Dick Cheney (Getty Images)

An apology over Iraq?

There’s been nothing of the sort. Instead, a new documentary about the Vice-President of the George W Bush era – The World According to Dick Cheney, which will air tonight on American TV – shows the former oilman sticking to his guns.

What does he have to say for himself?

Cheney was charged with finding evidence linking Osama Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein’s regime in the wake of 9/11. He claimed he had, but in reality none was ever found. He also fixated on the idea that Iraq was harbouring weapons of mass destruction. Again, this was rubbished. But it is a belief he clings to in the documentary, maintaining that Iraq was attempting to import uranium from Niger. “If I had to do it all over again,” he said of the war effort. “I’d do it in a minute.”

No contrition?

He said he didn’t care much for his public perception. “Those who spent all their time trying to be loved by everybody probably aren’t doing much,” he said. “If you’re not prepared to have critics and be subject to criticism, then you are in the wrong place of work. If you want to be loved, go and be a movie star.” And while Obama has banned the use of torture as an interrogation technique, Mr Cheney was resolute in his defence of the water-boarding method. “Tell me what terrorist attacks it is you would have let go forward because you didn’t want to be a mean and nasty fella,” he snapped at the interviewer. “Are you gonna trade the lives of people because you want to preserve your honour, or are you gonna do your job... to safeguard the United States of America and the lives of its citizens?”