CIA Walks Back Panetta Comment: He Doesn’t Think Cheney Wants A Terrorist Attack

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The CIA is now walking back Director Leon Panetta’s comments that former Vice President Dick Cheney may be hoping for the country to be attacked by terrorists again.

“The Director does not believe the former Vice President wants an attack,” CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said in a statement to CNN. “He did not say that. He was simply expressing his profound disagreement with the assertion that President Obama’s security policies have made our country less safe. Nor did he question anyone’s motives.”

For the record, here’s what Panetta said to the New Yorker about Cheney’s recent speeches. “I think he smells some blood in the water on the national-security issue,” said Panetta. “It’s almost, a little bit, gallows politics. When you read behind it, it’s almost as if he’s wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point. I think that’s dangerous politics.”

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