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Cheney: I'm Speaking Out to Keep US Safe

Petraeus says US routing al-Qaeda; Gingrich likens torture talk to McCarthyism

By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff

Posted May 10, 2009 10:32 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Dick Cheney says he’s been outspoken because the Obama administration has “moved to take down a lot of those policies we put in place to keep the nation safe for 8 years.” On CBS’ Face the Nation, Cheney denied the Bush administration was in the “torture business” and said he’d choose Rush Limbaugh’s version of the GOP over Colin Powell’s.

National security issues bloomed elsewhere on the Sunday talk shows this Mother’s Day:

  • Gen. David Petraeus told CNN’s State of the Union that al-Qaeda has suffered “very significant losses” in the past 6 to 10 months, and on Fox News Sunday, the CentCom chief downplayed concerns the Taliban could seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons.
  • On ABC's This Week, National Security Adviser Jim Jones said Washington isn’t sure if Osama bin Laden is dead or alive, but Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari told NBC's Meet the Press he believes the al-Qaeda leader is dead and blamed the US for losing him.
  • John McCain chided former rival Barack Obama for failing to devise a plan to prosecute suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay once the military prison is shuttered.
  • Also on Fox, Newt Gingrich said the rancor over the Bush administration’s approval of tough interrogation tactics is “as bitter a partisan attack as we’ve seen since the McCarthy era.”

U.S. Army General David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, addresses an audience on the campus of Harvard University.
U.S. Army General David Petraeus, head of U.S. Central Command, addresses an audience on the campus of Harvard University.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Newt Gingrich called the legal debate over the issue of torture as bitter a partisan attack as we've seen since the McCarthy era.
Newt Gingrich called the legal debate over the issue of torture "as bitter a partisan attack as we've seen since the McCarthy era."   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Dick Cheney says the Obama administration has %u201Cmoved to take down a lot of those policies we put in place to keep the nation safe for 8 years.%u201D
Dick Cheney says the Obama administration has %u201Cmoved to take down a lot of those policies we put in place to keep the nation safe for 8 years.%u201D   (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Vice President Dick Cheney speaks in Richmond, Va.
Vice President Dick Cheney speaks in Richmond, Va.   (AP Photo/Steve Helber)
Former Vice President Dick Cheney appears on CNN's State of the Union Sunday, March 15, 2009, in Washington.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney appears on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday, March 15, 2009, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Kevin Wolf)
Vice President Dick Cheney waits for senators to arrive as to administer re-enactments of the Senate oath, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009, in Washington.
Vice President Dick Cheney waits for senators to arrive as to administer re-enactments of the Senate oath, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2009, in Washington.   (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that the US "lost" Osama bin Laden.   (msnbc)
Afghan President Hamid Karzai sharply criticizes the US on NBC's "Meet the Press."   (MSNBC)

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 18 comments
mockingbird
May 12, 2009 12:35 PM CDT
paul - I respect that as a philosophical position, even if I don't agree, but it seems to dodge the question a bit. I still must ask - How can the torture of ones enemies be reconciled to the words and actions of Jesus? I can reconcile it, somewhat, with the Old Testament, but not with the New. I can't even (in my own mind) make it square with elaborations defining "jus in bello" (given the condition, in accordance with the evidence presented so far to me by a few, that "military necessity" admits soft coercion as superior in both global and particular efficacy than torture). I wouldn't advocate complete pacifism as a wholly viable course of action in this world, but there are and should be checks (beyond, "Well, we're not as bad as /them/,") even on justifiable force. That is, popping the bully (one, or a few) would be in line with necessary violence; beating him into a coma - or giving him nipple twisters until he fessed up to the location of the stink bombs - wouldn't be. >insert paragraph break ;-) < Backtracking a bit (back to "global efficacy"): On a purely practical front, doesn't engaging in torture seem counterproductive? Unless one is going to engage is a sure and total warfare with an enemy (with the intention of and capability for, at least, decimation), the consistent application of torture may serve to bolster the enemies' resolve. It seems an oddly wasteful use of time, resources, and opportunity if there are equally (or more) viable options.
mockingbird
May 12, 2009 10:36 AM CDT
That's cool, paul. Thank you for taking the time to think about and respond to the questions :D
paul123
May 12, 2009 3:01 AM CDT
proxie, honestly, I cannot point to a specific passage that endorses the interrogation of enemy soldiers, however, I cannot find one that opposes it either. War is war and war occured in the bible, and some wars in the bible were even ordered by God himself.
Politics • US

 
Afghanistan • Dick Cheney • Taliban • Newt Gingrich • Pakistan • David Petraeus • nuclear weapons • Jim Jones • Asif Ali Zardari

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