One member of Cheney's national security staff, David Wurmser, worried out loud that Cheney felt that his wing was "losing the policy argument on Iran" inside the administration -- and that they might need to "end run" the president with scenarios that may narrow his choices. The option that Wurmser allegedly discussed was nudging Israel to launch a low-yield cruise missile strike against the Natanz nuclear reactor in Iran, thus "hopefully" prompting a military reaction by Tehran against U.S. forces in Iraq and the Gulf.
When queried about Wurmser's alleged comments, a senior Bush administration official told the New York Times, "The vice president is not necessarily responsible for every single thing that comes out of the mouth of every single member of his staff."
You can see here that Salon story is vague as to where the idea originated, but it sounds more as if it was Wurmser's idea--something that he presented to Cheney to "mull over."
Haaretz makes it sound like Cheney was the mastermind. The question is whether Newsweak spun it this way too, when it is not clear at all that this is the case.
Thanks for that clarification.
To the left, incorrect people and organizations are guilty of whatever the left can think of for them to be guilty of.