By Sean Lengell (Washington Times) | Sunday, May 10, 2009
Vice President Dick Cheney on Sunday continued his verbal attack against President Obama, saying that the country is more vulnerable to a potential terrorist attack since the Obama administration took power.
Mr. Cheney said that administration's dismantling of many of the policies and protections instituted by President George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks — including the planned closing of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba and halting controversial prisoner interrogation techniques — have made the country more vulnerable to future attacks.
"That's my belief," Mr. Cheney said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "I think to the extent that those [Bush-era] policies were responsible for saving lives, that the administration is now trying to cancel those policies … means in the future we're not going to have the same safeguards we've had for the last eight years."
The former vice president defended controversial interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, saying that it had been an effective tool in extracting useful information from suspected terrorists such as Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who is accused of helping carry out the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks Washington and New York.
"He did not cooperate fully in terms of interrogations until after waterboarding," Mr. Cheney said. "Once we went through that process, he produced vast quantities of invaluable information about al Qaida."
Mr. Obama in January banned the practice on prisoners by U.S. interrogators.
Mr. Cheney said he believes it's his duty to speak out against the Obama administration "because I think the issues that are at stake here are so important."
Mr. Cheney also took a shot at former Bush administration Secretary of State Colin Powell, saying that the conservative broadcaster Rush Limbaugh is a more loyal Republican than the former Army commander.
"If I had to choose in terms of being a Republican, I'd go with Rush Limbaugh," Mr. Cheney said.
Mr. Powell recently said that Republicans need to more move to the center politically and that Mr. Limbaugh's polarizing far-right rhetoric hurts the party's image.
Mr. Limbaugh retaliated by accusing Mr. Powell of being "just another liberal" and that he should become a Democrat.
"I think my take on it was Colin had already left the party," Mr. Cheney said. "I didn't know he was still a Republican."
Urban Outfitters
This really bothers me. It seems like every moderate republican is being branded a democrat because they disagree with this policy or that. We don't need to be so exclusive that we go the way of the Whigs. I agree with Powell that we need to be more centrist with our social issues, especially if we WANT to win elections on a consistent basis.
1The one time I don't watch Slay The Nation in the morning...!!
I don't really have a comment right now... Considering I'm just overall annoyed.
2UnDave, Powell came out and endorsed Obama before the election. Can you name me a more "moderate" national Republican figure then john McCain, now that Arlen Specter bolted to the Democratic party?
In what ways exactly are Republicans so far out of the mainstream on social issues that it causes folks to bolt to the Democratic party, that otherwise would be Republican voters?
I would think economic freedom, the freedom to own and keep property, the freedom to enter into a legal contract, and not have the terms changed expos facto by the government would top most social issues. Obama calls bond holders "speculators". Well those speculators put that money aside in there 401K, and pension plans, thinking that money was safer then stocks, now they find those bonds being redeemed at 33 cents on the dollar while the UAW pension funds keep 50 cents on the dollar. When under our bankruptcy laws the bond holders would be entitled to the entire dollar, before the UAW got a chance at thiers.
3One more thing. Make a list of the top 25 moral and social issues that you hold dearest in your heart, look at them, and tell me if you could be GUARANTEED all 25 would be government policy, would you give up all your other freedoms for yourself and your children into perpetuity?
4The fact that Cheney hasn't rode off into the sunset (er, rolled off into the sunset) only strengthens my belief that Bush was just his puppet for 8 years. Sad.
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