Cheney Responds to Obama's Comments on Guantanomo

The president of the United Stats explained his plan to close Guantanamo prison, or as Obama calls it to “clean up the mess” of Guantanamo, something that Cheney contests.

Obama accused the Bush administration of basing their anti-terrorist policies on fear, but ruled out a Truth Commission. The ex-vice president responded by saying he would make the same decisions again “without a doubt,” and defended the controversial interrogation methods.

In one of his harshest speeches against George W. Bush since he assumed the presidency, Barack Obama criticized the anti-terrorism policy of his predecessor, ensuring that it was based on fear and affirmed his determination to “clean up the mess” of Guantanamo by closing the detention center.

Obama, who spoke at the headquarters of the National Archives, the building that holds the original copy of the U.S Constitution, sighed that after 9/11 the Bush administration made a series of “hasty decisions” that were not inspired by the democratic values of the U.S.

“Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. And I believe that those decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I also believe that — too often — our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight,” he said, “And in this season of fear, too many of us — Democrats and Republicans; politicians, journalists and citizens — fell silent. In other words, we went off course.”

Later he launched a direct attack against the controversial interrogation on techniques used by the CIA. “I know some have argued that brutal methods like water boarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more.” However, he has rejected to create a Truth Commission that would independently investigate those responsible for the abuses.

Instead, he asked to turn the page on these events and look towards the future.

On Guantanamo, he defended its closure within the year and explained what to do with the prisoners, despite the concern generated by the possibility that some will be sent to maximum security prisons within the U.S. “The costs of keeping it open far exceed the complications involved in closing it,” Obama said. “We are cleaning up something that is — quite simply — a mess; a misguided experiment that has left in its wake a flood of legal challenges that my Administration is forced to deal with on a constant basis.

Only minutes after Obama’s speech, the news networks switched directly to the headquarters of the center of conservative studies, the American Enterprise Institute, where ex-Vice President Dick Cheney- one of Bush’s former officers who most defended his administration- disagreed with Obama.

Cheney’s Retort

“Never was torture permitted and the methods (of interrogation) were carefully looked over under a legal eye before being approved” assured Cheney. “I was and remain a strong proponent of our enhanced interrogation program,” he insisted, to add that those interrogations were “legal, essential, justified, successful, and the right thing to do.”

The ex-Vice President insisted that Obama’s decision to prohibit these types of practices is completely “unwise.” “It is recklessness cloaked in righteousness, and would make the American people less safe.

Cheney also criticized the decision to close Guantanamo. “The administration has found that it’s easy to receive applause in Europe for closing Guantanamo. But it’s tricky to come up with an alternative that will serve the interests of justice and America’s national security.”

“I can stand here today, as President of the United States, and say without exception or equivocation that we do not torture.”

-Barack Obama, current U.S. president, during his speech on national security

“Never was torture permitted and the methods (of interrogation) were carefully looked over under a legal eye before being approved”

-Dick Cheney, former vice president of the U.S.

Some Prisoners Will Be Transferred to the U.S.

Twenty-four hours after Congress blocked funding of 80 million dollars to close Guantanamo because the White House has not made clear what they would do with the prisoners, Barack Obama announced that suspects be divided into 5 different categories, and some will be transferred to maximum security prisons in the U.S.

1. In the first place, they will be tried in U.S federal courts for those who violated the countries laws when it is viable, the newspaper “El Mundo” summarized.

2. The second category is for those who violated the rules of war and should be prosecuted in military commissions. In referencing this, Obama denied that he has changed his approach to keep the courts created by Bush. “In 2006, I did strongly oppose legislation proposed by the Bush Administration and passed by the Congress because it failed to establish a legitimate legal framework, with the kind of meaningful due process and rights for the accused that could stand up on appeal. I did, however, support the use of military commissions to try detainees, provided there were several reforms. And those are the reforms that we are making,” Obama said after emphasizing that his administration will not use information obtained in interrogations that are “cruel, inhuman or degrading.”

3. The third class is prisoners whose release has been ordered by the courts. In total, it is 21 cases where all but one happened during George W. Bush’s administration.

4. Then at least 50 other inmates will be transferred safely to other countries behind bars

while they are being rehabilitated.

5. Lastly, the most controversial: those who can not be prosecuted but pose a clear threat to the U.S. This is the case for people trained by al-Qaeda, those who directed Taliban attacks or those who said their goal is to kill. “If and when we determine that the United States must hold individuals to keep them from carrying out an act of war, we will do so within a system that involves judicial and congressional oversight.”