Dick Cheney sat down with CNN's John King Sunday morning for his first television interview since leaving office. Cheney told King that the Iraq invasion was "worth doing" and that the U.S. has succeeded with its goals.
Cheney: “We have succeeded in creating, in the heart of the Middle East, a democratically governed Iraq. And that’s a big deal. And that is, in fact, what we set out to do.”
“We got rid of one of the worst dictators in the 20th century. We got rid of his government. There’s no prospect that Iraq is going to become a place where once again they produce weapons of mass destruction, or support terrorists."
KING: Since taking office, President Obama has done these things to change the policies you helped put in place. He has announced he will close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. He has announced he will close CIA black sites around the world, where they interrogate terror suspects. Says he will make CIA interrogators abide by the Army Field Manual, defined waterboarding as torture and ban it, suspend trials for terrorists by military commission, and now eliminate the label of enemy combatants. I'd like to just simply ask you, yes or no, by taking those steps, do you believe the president of the United States has made Americans less safe?
CHENEY: I do. I think those programs were absolutely essential to the success we enjoyed of being able to collect the intelligence that let us defeat all further attempts to launch attacks against the United States since 9/11. I think that's a great success story. It was done legally. It was done in accordance with our constitutional practices and principles. President Obama campaigned against it all across the country. And now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack.
On Obama: "I think there’s no question but what the economic circumstances that he inherited are difficult ones. We said that before we left. I don’t think you can blame the Bush administration for the creation of those circumstances. It’s a global financial problem."
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Bush in Canada today...
The Canadian Press
CALGARY - George W. Bush is in Canada today to make a public appearance for one of the first times since leaving office with a dismal approval rating and the lion's share of the blame for his country's collapsing economy. Bush is slated to speak before a private business audience of 1,500 in part invited by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
The event's invitations say he'll touch on his eight years in office and challenges currently facing the world.
Protesters promise to be outside the lunchtime event with piles of shoes to toss at pictures of the former president.
They say he should be arrested as a war criminal over allegations of torture at military prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.
Cheney: “We have succeeded in creating, in the heart of the Middle East, a democratically governed Iraq. And that’s a big deal. And that is, in fact, what we set out to do.”
“We got rid of one of the worst dictators in the 20th century. We got rid of his government. There’s no prospect that Iraq is going to become a place where once again they produce weapons of mass destruction, or support terrorists."
KING: Since taking office, President Obama has done these things to change the policies you helped put in place. He has announced he will close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. He has announced he will close CIA black sites around the world, where they interrogate terror suspects. Says he will make CIA interrogators abide by the Army Field Manual, defined waterboarding as torture and ban it, suspend trials for terrorists by military commission, and now eliminate the label of enemy combatants. I'd like to just simply ask you, yes or no, by taking those steps, do you believe the president of the United States has made Americans less safe?
CHENEY: I do. I think those programs were absolutely essential to the success we enjoyed of being able to collect the intelligence that let us defeat all further attempts to launch attacks against the United States since 9/11. I think that's a great success story. It was done legally. It was done in accordance with our constitutional practices and principles. President Obama campaigned against it all across the country. And now he is making some choices that, in my mind, will, in fact, raise the risk to the American people of another attack.
On Obama: "I think there’s no question but what the economic circumstances that he inherited are difficult ones. We said that before we left. I don’t think you can blame the Bush administration for the creation of those circumstances. It’s a global financial problem."
--------------------
Bush in Canada today...
The Canadian Press
CALGARY - George W. Bush is in Canada today to make a public appearance for one of the first times since leaving office with a dismal approval rating and the lion's share of the blame for his country's collapsing economy. Bush is slated to speak before a private business audience of 1,500 in part invited by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
The event's invitations say he'll touch on his eight years in office and challenges currently facing the world.
Protesters promise to be outside the lunchtime event with piles of shoes to toss at pictures of the former president.
They say he should be arrested as a war criminal over allegations of torture at military prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay.
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