Prez: 'Cheney Stirred US Hatred'

Says fighting extremists 'a tough, mean, dirty, nasty business'

(NEWSER) - Dick Cheney thinks there’s a “high probability” terrorists will attack the US with a biological or nuclear weapon, and that Barack Obama’s policies will likely only increase those odds. Fighting terrorism is “a tough mean, dirty, nasty business,” the former vice president told Politico. “These are evil people. And we’re not going to win this fight by turning the other cheek.” More»

President to sign bill allowing indefinite detention of Americans

(NEWSER) - President Obama is taking a lot of heat today for dropping his threat to veto a controversial defense bill that could allow the military to capture and indefinitely detain American citizens on US soil. In a fiery editorial, the New York Times today called it "a complete political cave-in, one that reinforces the impression of a fumbling presidency," saying it had too many objectionable parts to name. Other criticism has included: More»

Admin Says It's Open to Further Talks

(NEWSER) - There was a time when the White House and Sen. Lindsey Graham seemed close to striking a bipartisan deal on closing Guantanamo Bay and other national security issues, but in May those talks “went completely dead,” Graham tells Politico . “They could never quite pull the trigger,” he adds, suggesting that the administration was unwilling to take on such a heavy issue in an election year. More»

Bush insiders approve of new prez; stay mum to avoid Cheney

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama faced his first terror threat before he was even sworn in. There was strong evidence suggesting that a terror cell intended to attack his inauguration, so Obama and his team worked tirelessly on the issue with George W. Bush’s outgoing team. It was a surprisingly smooth collaboration, that ushered in a White House counterterror team strangely in-step with Bush, writes Peter Baker in an in-depth New York Times Magazine piece on Obama’s battle with terrorists. More»

(AP) - CIA Director Leon Panetta says former Vice President Dick Cheney's criticism of the Obama administration's approach to terrorism almost suggests "he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point." Panetta told The New Yorker that Cheney "smells some blood in the water" on the issue of national security. More»