Cheney told CN that "the harsh interrogations of suspects and the use of warrantless electronic surveillance were "absolutely essential" to get information to prevent more attacks like the 2001 suicide hijackings that targeted New York and Washington".
Many experts agree that the "proof is in the pudding' due to the fact that America has not been attacked since 2001.
Cheney also said that the Obama administration is returning to the pre-9-11 strategy of treating terrorism as a policing job rather than as a military need.
Rep.Joe Sestak (D) Pa. said that the move of the Obama administration was due to a matter of principles and how the U.S. is viewed.
The New York Times reported Cheney as saying “When you go back to the law enforcement mode, which I sense is what they’re doing, closing Guantánamo and so forth, that they are very much giving up that center of attention and focus that’s required, and that concept of military threat that is essential if you’re going to successfully defend the nation against further attacks.”
The first job of the government is to protect the people. That was the purpose of forming a union to begin with, and putting the people at risk after the hard lesson of September 11, could become Obama's biggest folly.