US should revive enhanced interrogation techniques: Dick Cheney
Former Vice President Dick Cheney told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo that he is in favor of restarting the enhanced interrogation program that helped foil terrorist plots in the U.S.
“If it were my call I would not discontinue those programs. I'd have them active and ready to go,” Cheney said during an interview broadcast Thursday on “Mornings with Maria.” "And I'd go back and study them and learn."
It’s been 17 years since America experienced the worst terrorist attack in the country’s history, killing almost 3,000 people on 9/11.
Cheney has been a vocal supporter of the Bush administration's enhanced interrogation policy which he said helped produce the intelligence needed to find the 9/11 mastermind, Osama Bin Laden.
“There are a lot of Monday morning quarterbacks in the terrorism business,” Cheney said.
In 2015, Congress voted to ban the use of torture, preventing the government from using interrogation techniques like waterboarding.
“The agency is in a difficult position. The Congress has acted, they have changed the law and the agency has to and will operate by that statute,” Cheney said.
The former vice president doesn’t classify the interrogation tactics as torture because the techniques used on 9/11 architect, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were also used on U.S. training officers, he said.
“You tell me that the only method we have is please, please, pretty please, tell us what you know? Well I don’t buy that,” Cheney said.