President Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney dueled Thursday over the way America should detain and interrogate suspected terrorists, with Obama renewing his vow to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Cheney forcefully denying that the Bush administration used torture to extract information.
In speeches only minutes apart at different venues in Washington, the two set out starkly different views of how to guarantee the nation's security while preserving American values.
Obama said he is examining a range of options for detainees, including release, imprisonment at high-security American prisons, trials in federal courts and military commissions -- and, for some, prolonged and even indefinite detention. He said his administration is in the process of devising "clear, defensible and lawful standards" for inmates who cannot be prosecuted for past crimes but who still pose a security threat to the country.
Speaking at the National Archives, which houses the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence, Obama argued that the nation should "enlist the power of our most fundamental values" in the effort to keep itself safe.
Cheney spoke at the American Enterprise Institute, a think tank where he has previously delivered addresses defending the Bush administration. He said the waterboarding employed in the questioning of a few captured terrorists was essential in getting as much information as possible about Al Qaeda's intentions in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "Torture was never permitted," he said.
"Interrogators had authoritative guidance on the line between interrogation and torture, and they knew to stay on the right side of it," Cheney said. "For all that we've lost in this conflict, the United States of America has never lost its moral bearings."
Here are excerpts from both speeches:
On the Constitution
Obama: I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as commander in chief, and as a citizen I know that we must never -- ever -- turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience's sake.
I make this claim not simply as a matter of idealism. We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe.
