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Neocon Nuttery See other Neocon Nuttery Articles Title: Cheney: 'I'm Very Proud of What We Did' Former Vice President Dick Cheney reiterated his claim today that enhanced interrogation techniques used on terrorism suspects in U.S. custody in the years after September 11, 2001, worked in revealing terror plots despite contrary sentiment from a CIA investigator who probed detainee interrogations. Cheney's statements come six days after the release of a 2004 CIA Inspector General report (pdf) that documents a litany of interrogation tactics used on detainees, including waterboarding, "walling," face-slapping and at least one mock execution. Cheney's views, though, contradict those of former CIA inspector general John Helgerson, who wrote in the report that there is no proof that such techniques were responsible for reliable information that helped in foiling terror plans. "I'm very proud of what we did in terms of defending the nation for the last eight years successfully," Cheney said of the Bush administration's post-9/11 terror strategy on "Fox News Sunday." Cheney says he stands behind the interrogation tactics and is convinced the use of those practices were "directly responsible for keeping America safe for eight years." His support for the Bush administration's approval of techniques that have been halted by the Obama administration signified his dissatisfaction with President Obama and most Democrats in Congress, who Cheney says have made Americans less safe through the enaction of their own terror policy. "It doesn't appear to be a serious move" to quell terrorism, Cheney said of Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement Monday of a preliminary review of Bush-era techniques. "It's a direct slap at the CIA." The move to wade into a review, which is likely to be narrow in scope and focus on the intelligence community, falls on President Obama's shoulders, not Holder's, Cheney said. "I wasn't a fan when he was elected ... my view hasn't changed," Cheney said of Obama. Not only does Cheney believe the changes in tactics are bad policy, he said the review, if it travels up the chain of command, will set a dangerous precedent for future administrations to seek prosecutions for opinions a previous administration has cleared through the Department of Justice. "I guess the other thing that offends the hell out of me, frankly ... is we had a track record now of eight years of defending the nation against any further mass casualty attacks from Al Qaida," Cheney said. "The approach of the Obama administration should be to come to those people who were involved in that policy and say, 'How did you do it? What were the keys to keeping this country safe over that period of time?'" Cheney characterized the "partisan" tone of Washington as partly responsible for the "political" move to begin the preliminary review. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) said the opposite was true, that the Obama Justice Department, led by Holder, is doing the correct thing to uphold the rule of law and actually going against the White House's wishes. "I think there is a little bit of a tension between the White House itself and the lawyers in the Justice Department as they see the law and as what their obligation is," Kerry said on ABC's "This Week." "And in a sense, that's good. That's appropriate, because it shows that we have an attorney general who is not pursuing a political agenda, but who is doing what he believes the law requires him to do." Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), also on "This Week," made the argument that since the Bush administration decided to forego such reviews and investigations into interrogation techniques and possible abuses, the issue is settled, and the Obama administration should not go forward with the review. "I really question, after all of the investigations were done, some prosecutions that were waged, and most of this material was decided not to go forward, to now go forward with this, I really question whether the attorney general is doing what is right," Hatch said. In addition to the CIA report and enhanced interrogation techniques, Cheney answered questions on his relationship with President Bush at the end of their time in office. He insists reports that he is upset with Bush for a series of moves in the administration's second term are wrong. "To say I was disappointed in the president (Bush)" is false, Cheney said.
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#1. To: Brian S (#0)
He's very proud of it .... he just won't testify about it under oath!
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