I believe that we were not as effective in the second term dealing with this issue of nuclear none proliferation as we had been during the first term when we stripped Libya and Iraq and A.Q. Khan and their capacity to proliferate nuclear technology.

Cheney is contrasting what he portrays as the Bush administration’s stronger nonproliferation record in its first term with a perceived decline in effectiveness during the second. By citing Libya’s abandonment of its WMD programs, the disruption of A.Q. Khan’s proliferation network, and Iraq’s disarmament (as the administration framed it), he argues that decisive coercive and intelligence-driven measures can meaningfully reduce proliferation risks. The quote also implicitly critiques later policy choices—suggesting that momentum, focus, or political will waned—while reinforcing Cheney’s broader worldview that hard power, pressure, and interdiction are central tools for preventing the spread of nuclear technology.