“This is a man who took us directly into Iraq. Please.”

John Kerry on Dick Cheney

Said : US Secretary of State John Kerry in reply when asked about former vice-president Dick Cheney’s assertion that President Barack Obama has been wrong all along about the Middle East, as per the Reuters report in Gulf News today.

The report quoted Kerry as saying : “We are interested in communicating with Iran. That the Iranians know what we’re thinking, that we know what they’re thinking and there is a sharing of information so people aren’t making mistakes,” in an interview on NBC News.

He said violence is on the rise in Iraq because Syria’s Bashar Al Assad, who has been under siege for at least three years, “is a magnet for terrorists of all walks.” He reiterated that air strikes have not been ruled out, saying that “nothing is off the table” in administration discussions. However, he made it clear that whatever assistance (from us) is forthcoming won’t necessarily be aimed at bailing out embattled Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki. The efforts will be “focused on the people of Iraq,” he said. Kerry warned that the militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) is “more extreme than even Al Qaida and they are a threat to the US and western interests.”

Former vice president Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz criticised had President Obama in an op-ed that was published in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Their op-ed received very harsh criticism from the US media.