Cheney's speech contained omissions, misstatements
By Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel,
Thu May 21, 7:10 pm ET
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney's defense Thursday of the Bush administration's policies for interrogating suspected terrorists contained omissions, exaggerations and misstatements.
In his address to the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy organization in Washington, Cheney said that the techniques the Bush administration approved, including waterboarding — simulated drowning that's considered a form of torture — forced nakedness and sleep deprivation, were "legal" and produced information that "prevented the violent death of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of innocent people."
He quoted the Director of National Intelligence, Adm. Dennis Blair, as saying that the information gave U.S. officials a "deeper understanding of the al Qaida organization that was attacking this country."
In a statement April 21, however, Blair said the information "was valuable in some instances" but that "there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means. The bottom line is that these techniques hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security."
(More here.)
Thu May 21, 7:10 pm ET
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney's defense Thursday of the Bush administration's policies for interrogating suspected terrorists contained omissions, exaggerations and misstatements.
In his address to the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy organization in Washington, Cheney said that the techniques the Bush administration approved, including waterboarding — simulated drowning that's considered a form of torture — forced nakedness and sleep deprivation, were "legal" and produced information that "prevented the violent death of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of innocent people."
He quoted the Director of National Intelligence, Adm. Dennis Blair, as saying that the information gave U.S. officials a "deeper understanding of the al Qaida organization that was attacking this country."
In a statement April 21, however, Blair said the information "was valuable in some instances" but that "there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means. The bottom line is that these techniques hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security."
(More here.)
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1 Comments:
I heard Pres. Obama's talk Thursday May 21 at the National Archives and former VP Cheney's response at the Amer. Enterprise Institute.
Is Dick Cheney an agent of the Devil? Cheney absolutely radiates evil. I would feel alot safer if he were in a federal prison, or in prison in the Hague, for war crimes. I believe he is a war criminal. In any event, he is undeniably pathetic. He talks tough day in and day out, but when it was his turn to serve in the military, he had more important things to do and got the 5 draft deferments. I think the term is "chicken hawk" and I am really ashamed of my country when I think that he ever was elected to public office in the U.S. Sometimes Americans make stunningly awful decisions in the voting booth.
Dan Levin
Mankato, Minn.
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