The Blame Game Continues: Obama on National Security
In today's speech on national security, Obama blamed Bush for the challenges facing our nation. This is no surprise. His presidency has been dominated by this strategy-blame Bush for everything.
Obama Blames Previous Administration "In dealing with this situation, we do not have the luxury of starting from scratch. 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, and that consumes the time of government officials whose time should be spent on better protecting our country."
"[F]aced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions... our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions."
Cheney Defends Previous Administration
"The serious way we dealt with terrorists from 9/11 on, and all the intelligence we gathered in that time, had everything to do with preventing another 9/11 on our watch. The enhanced interrogations of high-value detainees and the terrorist surveillance program have without question made our country safer."
"Along the way, there were some hard calls. No decision of national security was ever made lightly, and certainly never made in haste. As in all warfare, there have been costs - none higher than the sacrifices of those killed and wounded in our country's service. And even the most decisive victories can never take away the sorrow of losing so many of our own."
Isn't this what Bush did? Obama said that he still reserves the right to order use of enhanced interrogation techniques should it deem necessary. "Having reserved for himself the authority to order enhanced interrogation after an emergency, you would think that President Obama would be less disdainful of what his predecessor authorized after 9/11," said Cheney.
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