Cheney’s speech contained omissions and misstatements

[kpete]

Source: McClatchy

Cheney’s speech contained omissions and misstatements

By Jonathan S. Landay and Warren P. Strobel • McClatchy Newspapers • May 22, 2009


WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s defense Thursday of the Bush administration’s policies for interrogating suspected terrorists contained omissions, exaggerations and misstatements.
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In his address to the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative policy organization in Washington, Cheney said that the techniques the Bush administration approved, including waterboarding — simulated drowning that’s considered a form of torture — forced nakedness and sleep deprivation, were “legal” and produced information that “prevented the violent death of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of innocent people.”

He quoted the Director of National Intelligence, Adm. Dennis Blair, as saying that the information gave U.S. officials a “deeper understanding of the Al Qaeda organization that was attacking this country.”

In a statement April 21, however, Blair said the information “was valuable in some instances” but that “there is no way of knowing whether the same information could have been obtained through other means. The bottom line is that these techniques hurt our image around the world, the damage they have done to our interests far outweighed whatever benefit they gave us and they are not essential to our national security.”

Read more: http://www.freep.com/article/20090522/NEWS15/90521105

[MineralMan]

1. Of course it did. Cheney's mouth was moving. (n/t)

[onehandle]

2. Why does Cheney hate America? nt

[SpiralHawk]

3. Thanks McClathchy for calling out Five Deferments Cheney on his BS

America does not need any more republicon BS or propaganda...

[Robbien]

7. McClatchy is the best newspaper left standing these days

Appears to be the only one left to have real reporters and real reporting.

[gratuitous]

4. I'm sure the bulldogs of the Fourth Estate will be all over this, right?

Free ride's over, right?

Tough questioning sure to follow, right?

Right?

Never mind.

[xchrom]

5. if there was any 'damage' -- it's already done.

cheney knows he's lying and why.

truth has never been a goal of his.

control and power has.

[UTUSN]

6. K&R #3 for you beat me to it. Had already done the Googling, excerpting n/t

[meow2u3]

8. Translation: Cheney was lying in his teeth

That's his nature: his lips were moving, weren't they?!

[thereismore]

9. When does a misstatement become a lie? Politicians only seem to misstate. nt

[bushmeister0]

10. Incredible.

This part pretty much sums up everything:

On Cheney's "few bad apple" excuse.

"The abuse of detainees in U.S. custody cannot simply be attributed to the actions of "a few bad apples" acting on their own,' said the report issued by Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John McCain, R-Ariz' 'The fact is that senior officials in the United States government solicited information on how to use aggressive techniques, redefined the law to create the appearance of their legality and authorized their use against detainees.'"

It doesn't get any plainer than that!

[Wednesdays]

11. K&R

:kick: