Cheney: Torture Was 9/11, Not What We Did

Ex-VP says, 'I'd do it again in a minute'
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 14, 2014 10:36 AM CST
Cheney: Torture Was 9/11, Not What We Did
Dick Cheney addresses the Wyoming State Bar at its annual convention Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014, in Cheyenne, Wyo.   (AP Photo/Ben Neary)

Dick Cheney today doubled down on his defense of the CIA's so-called harsh interrogation techniques, telling Meet the Press that "torture to me is an American citizen on his cell phone making a last call to his four young daughters shortly before he burns to death in the upper levels of the [World Trade Center] on 9/11." He continues, "There’s this notion that there’s moral equivalence between what the terrorists did and what we do and that’s absolutely not true. We were very careful to stop short of torture…. I’d do it again in a minute." More highlights from the interview, as per Politico and CNN:

  • On the Senate Intelligence Committee's report: "The report is seriously flawed. They didn’t talk to anybody who knew anything about the program. They didn’t talk to anyone who was in the program. It’s a small report. It didn’t begin to approach what’s required by way of responsible oversight."

  • On whether Americans captured abroad are more likely to face torture: "He’s not likely to be waterboarded. He’s likely to have his head cut off. I haven’t seen them waterboard anybody."
  • On the report's claim that President Bush was unaware of the program: That's a "lie. We got the authorization from the president and authorization from the Justice Department to go forward with the program."
  • On the CIA program's payoff: "It worked. It absolutely did work."
(More Dick Cheney stories.)

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