Cheney: Soft Obama Makes Terror Attack More Likely

Says fighting extremists 'a tough, mean, dirty, nasty business'
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 4, 2009 9:31 AM CST
Cheney: Soft Obama Makes Terror Attack More Likely
Former vice president Dick Cheney smiles as he brought in by wheelchair to the House Chambers of the Wyoming Legislature, Jan. 21, 2008, in Cheyenne.   (AP Photo)

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.”

Cheney defended his administration’s use of harsh interrogation techniques, and called Guantanamo Bay a “first-class program,” noting that 11%-12% of those released have gone back to being terrorists. “The United States needs to be not so much loved as it needs to be respected,” he said. “Sometimes, that requires us to take actions that generate controversy. I’m not at all sure that that’s what the Obama adminstration believes.” (More Dick Cheney stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X