BEFORE the first American war against Saddam Hussein, when Dick Cheney was secretary of defence, he had to brief King Hassan of Morocco about the brewing Operation Desert Storm. As the meeting was about to start, the king placed a small silver box in his translator's hand and briefly spoke with him in Arabic. Mr Cheney asked what the ritual meant. The king replied that the box contained a fragment of the Koran and he was swearing his translator to secrecy on pain of death. Mr Cheney says he thought: “Damn, I need one of those.”
The vice-president is famously fond of secrecy. He stores his papers in man-sized safes and labels even unclassified memos “Treated As: Top Secret”, a designation his office appears to have invented, according to a recent Washington Post series for which Mr Cheney refused to be interviewed. Even with friendly journalists, such as Stephen Hayes of the Weekly Standard, he is clam-like. Mr Hayes spent nearly 30 hours in one-on-one interviews with Mr Cheney for his new book, “Cheney: the Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice-President”, yet many of his queries were rebuffed. Mr Hayes asked: “Can you briefly describe what kinds of qualities you are looking for [in a new CIA director]?” Mr Cheney replied: “Probably not.” “I waited for him to continue,” writes Mr Hayes, “but he said nothing.”
-Dick Cheney reveals his secrets
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