On '60 Minutes,' Obama rebukes Cheney criticism
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/POLITICS/03/22/obama.60.minutes/art.obama.60minutes.jpg caption="In a '60 Minutes' interview, President Obama said, 'I fundamentally disagree with Dick Cheney'."]
(CNN) - President Obama said in an interview aired Sunday that the hardest decision he's made since taking office was to send more troops to Afghanistan.
Also in the interview on CBS' "60 Minutes," Obama defended his decision to shut down the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and he countered criticism from former vice president Dick Cheney.
"I fundamentally disagree with Dick Cheney - not surprisingly," Obama said. "I think that Vice President Cheney has been at the head of a movement whose notion is somehow that we can't reconcile our core values, our Constitution, our belief that we don't torture, with our national security interests. I think he's drawing the wrong lesson from history."
Obama was responding to comments Cheney made to CNN's "State of the Union" on March 15, when he said the president is making the nation less safe by closing the Guantanamo prison and ending interrogation practices that Bush administration critics consider torture for terror suspects.
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Stop campaigning, Obama. Stop responding to every criticism. Go back to Washington and act like a President.
@Rick
Oh, by the way keep in mind that the economy started to tank AFTER the Democrats took control of the Congress. Everything was going just fine until then and now it is
B-ll crap. Please give us one example of anything, ANYTHING the
democrats were able to get through that Bush did not approve of? They did not have a majority sufficient to override a veto, force a vote, stop a filibuster. This mess had been brewing for a lot longer than two years. And as far as an intelligent society voting for ignorance for a second term…2004 proves you wrong.
Cheney and the republicans need to be rebuked for their gloom and doom fearmongering....they have nothing to back up their claims, and are being aided and abetted by the media.
You people need to stop with the hysterics – either be of use and help our president or shut up.
jim wrote: "You better be right Mr President. Remember we did not have another attack in this country under Bush and Cheney."
___________________________
9/11 happened under Bush/Cheney's watch. Then 5,000 more Americans were killed by their misdirection in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bush/Cheney ignored all the warnings and advice from the Clinton administration, as well as the National Security Briefings. They did nothing. They even stopped looking for Bin Laden. In March of 2002, Bush was asked about bin Laden. He said, "I don't know where he is. Frankly, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about him. He's not a priority."
Got it? They did nothing before bin Laden struck on 9/11, then they were so busy planning & invading countries that had nothing to do with it that they stopped looking for him.
And of course, you can't blame Obama for an attack if you don't blame Bush/Cheney.
Cheney's smack talk about the new administration was out of place and uncalled for. Mr. Obama served him a lesson.
He should be glad he's not behind bars.
I'm still waiting to hear how Obama and you other wimps would get terrorists to talk if (God forbid) Obama's daughters, or your own, were taken hostage and threatened with torture or death. Do you think you just might consider torturing terrorists then? I seriously doubt it.
Jim @11:28
You must be out of your mind. The worst Attack on US mainland was under Bush and Cheney. Bush and company ignored the a terrorist-attack-on-the-mainland warning on August 8 only to let America be attacked a month later.
Dick should have ran for president.... As well as all others who are making negative coments.
Obama kept me safe at least for now for 60 days.
Good job mr President at least I know there is fewer Islamic extremist nuts out there trying to kill me.
ASK yourself if FEWER or MORE Terrorists is the best way to protect our country.
If you are for More terrorist out there then you can kiss cheney and if you are for fewer terrorists then say Koudous to Obama because that is exactly why his policies will do.
The Neocons that profit from wars will never agree with the president
Anyway you want to put it, there have been ZERO attacks on US soil in 7 years. Why is it so difficult for the left to admit the tactics used by the Bush administration kept us safe since 9-11-01 an event that only occurred because President Bush "inherited" it. Sound familiar?
This pres is an idiot, smart because he's got so many of you fooled, but he's an idiot.
This argument about "we weren't hit again after 9/11" is bull! Remember the anthrax guy? Remember the DC sniper? To pretend that terrorism only counts if it comes from the Middle East is extremely shortsighted. Furthermore, taking credit for that is like saying "well, I deserve a reward since I haven't had a DUI since my last DUI!"
How they can get credit for keeping the country safe when they were in office during the worst attack on America in the country's history is mindboggling. Do we give Hoover credit because there wasn't another complete catastrophic stock market crash after the first one? Do we give credit to Carter because no OTHER Americans were held hostage? We don't even give credit to Clinton for "keeping us safe" after the first WTC bombing. Give me a break. You don't get praise because you kinda kept things going after you watched the first one happen.
On Gitmo:
Constitutional Law Profesor VERSUS Haliburton Executive
Hmmm. . . .
I'm going with the Law Professor. Thanks.
To all the left wingers out there..... If you get your wish and Bush/Cheney get sent to the Hague for trial, it will create one heck of a precedent...... and signal an end to any worldwide respect whatsoever for American Leaders, Obama included. Careful of what you wish for.
For more than two centuries American Presidents have held to the Constitution. Then we got President Bush and Vice President Cheney, whose leadership, or lack thereof, brought terrorist attacks smack dab to American soil and to innocent US citizens. Cheney and Bush have a lot of innocent American citizens' blood on their hands for making us less safe. He should be apologizing. If he were a real man he would be apologizing.
Bush,Chenney and Rumsfield took us to war based on total lies and were responsible for 4000 American lies. The best thing they can do is to keep quiet !
Cheney is suggesting that another attack in the US will happen because of Obama's new stance.
Well, under whose watch the first attack happened?
On the contrary, new Obama policies may help America regain its position in the world.
You catch more flies from honey....
The "torture" at Gitmo has gotten worse under Obama's watch.
Ok, but will he respond to Chavez who called him stupid, or the Russians who are threatening to fly Nuc bombers to Cuba, or the Iranians who totally rebuffed his Carteresque reach-out. C-mon, grow up.
If this is such a wise choice, then what do we do with them next? Bush has been blamed for not thinking things thru with the war. OK Obama... What are we to do with these very very dangerous people? Do they now have consitutional rights when they move to our soil? Is that your plan? ... A... hello!!!!!! They want to destroy our consitutional rights, and you will protect them with that very thing! They do not deserve our empathy, they do not deserve our decency. They are cold killers... this is not wise one bit. Wake up and smell reality.
I always chuckle when I hear Bushies point out that, under Bush and Cheney, there wasn't ANOTHER terrorist attack on US soil. As though that's actually meaningful or significant.
True, there were two during Clinton's term. One of them killed three people in New York in 1993. The other one, up until 2001 the most deadly ever on American soil, killed about 160. And it was perpetrated by AMERICANS.
Get your guns ready( if Obama allows them), the terroists will be your next door neighbors!!!!!!
Hey, as long as I am apparently back, (the moderator could disengage me at any moment) why hasn't CNN done any stories on the Iranian rebuke to Obama's offer of voice over conflict? Not one word in response from Obama and nothing from CNN.
Truth hurts, eh Obama? It's a little different than the liberal media slobbering all over you, isn't it ?
Obama has put this country in danger of another terrorist attack.
Wake up and smell the coffee !
. Dick Cheney says while in office ,they left America pretty safe from terrorist, but they left America very un safe Economically & politically.
Bush and Cheney also left behind Honourable loads of dept, high criminality ,hostile South American Nation, almost all have become communist or some sort of Anti American socialism, A Hostile Russia and a less respected America by even their European Allies.
They carry the stamp of eight years of American Downfall. That's the best legacy of Bush and Cheney. They let Bin Ladin flee, to Pakistan and then gave US tax money to Musharraf to protect him there?. Not to talk of the irresponsible Iraq war which created only enemies for America