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Former US vice-president Dick Cheney is a foreign policy hawk. Photo: AP

Washington: The young and dovish libertarians sat silently on Tuesday morning as former Vice President Dick Cheney addressed a gathering of House Republicans on Capitol Hill.

When Cheney finished his remarks on foreign policy and took questions, they eyed the door and declined to challenge him.

As he left the meeting, Representative Thomas Massie, from Kentucky, a non-interventionist, winced when asked about Cheney's counsel on how to deal with the rise of the Islamic State in parts of Iraq and Syria.

"I don't want to comment," Massie said. "He was nice enough to come over and talk to the [House Republican] conference."

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Seconds later, as the questions continued, Massie, 43, sighed and offered that the "primary thrust" of Cheney's pitch was about increasing the US defense budget and that he disagreed.

"We need to spend less money on everything," Massie said.

Representative Justin Amash, Republican, 34, another non-interventionist, took a similar line as he walked out. Initially curt, he broke into a smile when he was asked whether Republicans should stop listening to Cheney.

"Yeah," he replied. "His worldview is that we should be in countries around the world and have armed forces everywhere - and most Republicans don't agree with that."

Originally posted here:
Dick Cheney visit exposes libertarian, generational Republican divide on US military action