Dick Cheney Urged Bush to Bomb Syria in 2007: Memoir

Former Vice President Dick Cheney wanted President George W. Bush to bomb a suspected nuclear power facility in Syria in 2007, according to a new autobiography to be published next week.

However, in the tome, ‘In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir, ’Cheney laments he was a ‘lone voice’ on this action.

After I finished, the president asked, 'Does anyone here agree with the vice-president?' Not a single hand went up around the room.

Cheney claimed that his colleagues were reluctant to attack Syria due to the bad intelligence we had received about Iraq's stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction.

Later that year, Israeli warplane bombed the site in the Syrian desert.

According to the New York Times, Cheney also criticized Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, each of whom served as secretary of state under Bush, in the book.

Rice, Cheney asserts, was too naïve in her efforts to form a nuclear agreement with North Korea. He accused Powell of undermining Bush by criticizing White House policy –particularly with respect to the war in Iraq -- to outsiders.

After the 2004 election, Cheney admits, he sought to have Powell removed from the cabinet.

“It was as though [Powell] thought the proper way to express his views was by criticizing administration policy to people outside the government,” Cheney wrote. “[His resignation] was for the best.”

Cheney also praised Bush as “an outstanding leader,” but detailed conflicts within the ex-President’s staff.