Dhaka, Nov. 12 -- The news that Dick Cheney, probably the most powerful yet polarizing vice president in U.S. history and a leading advocate for the invasion of Iraq, has died at 84, has drawn mixed reactions from around the globe.

Cheney, who was initially tasked with choosing a vice presidential running mate for George W. Bush, died last Monday (Nov. 3) from complications of pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease, his family said.

In Cheney's hands, the vice presidency became a nexus of influence and manipulation-no longer the timid office whose occupants had tended their boss's ambitions.When he bunkered in secure undisclosed locations after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, that was less an inconvenience for Cheney than a metaphor fo...