Aug 31, 2009 6:30 pm US/Pacific
White House: Cheney's Wrong About Obama Policies
War Of Words On Investigation Into Harsh Interrogations Continues
By CBSNews.com's Stephanie Condon
WASHINGTON (CBS News) ―
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Vice President Dick Cheney waves as he leaves George Washington University Hospital after a check up Oct. 15, 2008, in Washington, D.C.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
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Attorney General nominee Eric Holder testifies during his confirmation hearing in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill on Jan. 15, 2009, in Washington DC.
Mark Wilson/Getty Images
A White House spokesman on Monday said former Vice President Dick Cheney had his facts wrong when he criticized the Obama administration's decision to investigate allegedly abusive CIA interrogation techniques.
Cheney on Sunday called the Justice Department investigation an "outrageous political act" that will do significant long term damage to the nation.
At his regular press briefing Monday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs brushed aside the criticism as "the same song and dance we've heard since literally the first day of our administration."
"I'm not entirely sure that Dick Cheney's predictions on foreign policy have borne a whole lot of fruit over the last eight years in a way that have been either positive or, to the best of my recollection, very correct," Gibbs said.
Cheney said on Sunday that the harsh interrogation techniques used on terrorist suspects were "directly responsible" for the fact that there have been no further mass casualty attacks against the United States since Sept. 11, 2001.
"I think the (former) vice president, if you watched some of his interview, clearly had his facts on a number of things wrong," Gibbs said Monday.
Gibbs contrasted Cheney's statements with Republican Sen. John McCain's comments on CBS's "Face the Nation." Though McCain said it was a "serious mistake" to investigate the interrogations, he said the interrogation techniques of the CIA under the Bush administration were harmful to the U.S.
"What was also illuminating were Sen. McCain's comments yesterday about... the impact that these enhanced interrogation techniques that the president looked at and has now outlawed, the effect that they've had on our standing in the world and our foreign policy," he said. "Given his experience, I think they are tremendously illuminating." (Read and watch more from McCain's appearance on "Face the Nation")
Gibbs said that the president has banned American-run so-called "black sites," has outlawed "enhanced interrogation techniques" and will close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"We're going to repair the image of this country and make this country safer," he said.
He said suspected terrorists are not shipped abroad to be tortured but stopped short of saying they are not shipped abroad for interrogations.
"Some may go to other countries to face charges that they have in those countries, but they're not shipped in the dark of night to be tortured," he said.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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