Appearing on Fox News with Neil Cavuto, former Vice President Dick Cheney strongly responded to those who have criticized him for his public campaign against the Obama administration’s decisions about interrogation/torture programs.
“Well, I don’t pay a lot of attention to what the critics say, obviously,” said Cheney. “I – from my standpoint, the notion that I should remain silent while they go public, that I shouldn’t say anything while they threaten to disbar the lawyers who gave us the advice that was crucial in terms of this program, that I shouldn’t say anything when they go out and release information that they believe is critical of the program, and critical of our policies but refuse to put out information that would show the results that we’re able to achieve — bottom line is we successfully defended the nation for seven and half years against a follow-on attack to 9/11. That was a remarkable achievement, nobody would have thought that was possible, but it was. I believe it was possible because of the policies we had in place, which they’re now dismantling.”
Cavuto then asked if this means the Obama administration is increasing the risk of another attack.
“I think that we are stripping ourselves of some of the capabilities that we used in order to block, if you will, or disrupt activities by al Qaeda that would have led to additional attacks,” said Cheney. “I think that’s an important debate to have. I don’t think we should just roll over when the new administration says — accuses us of committing torture, which we did not, or somehow violating the law, which we did not. I think you need to stand up and respond to that, and that’s what I’ve done.”
