Other views: Don’t ignore Cheney

Talk about it

Former Vice President Dick Cheney might not be the warmest and fuzziest of personalities, but when it comes to national defense and U.S. intelligence capabilities, his candor is a wake-up call for the nation. In a broadcast interview, Cheney said the politicization of intelligence policy by the Obama administration’s Justice Department will undermine the nation’s intelligence services. Like him or dislike him, he’s right.

The nation has gone somewhat complacent about its enemies since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, in part because of the economic downturn (we tend to look inward when our pocketbooks are threatened) and in part because there have been no terrorist attacks on the United States for about eight years. Cheney pointedly credited intelligence and anti-terrorist policies of the Bush administration for preventing attacks. Moreover — and this charge went right to the Obama administration’s policy shift regarding intelligence agencies’ interrogation techniques — the former vice president said the ability of the U.S. to ferret out terrorist plots would be compromised, thus putting the nation in danger.

Cheney’s remarks were in response to Attorney General Eric Holder’s decision to investigate whether CIA interrogators abused terror suspects detained after 9/11. Cheney insisted methods were legal and that interrogators were acting within limits determined by lawyers and others in the Bush Justice Department. He said to second-guess CIA operatives now apparently to satisfy the Democrat left would erode morale in intelligence agencies and blunt effective operations designed to protect the nation from terrorists.

Cheney might not be the best man to carry the message, but the message is vital to keeping the homeland safe. The last eight years have been distinguished by no attacks because Bush administration policies have worked to either nab the bad guys or expose terrorist cells and plots before damage could be done. As the American people shifted their attention elsewhere, agencies and personnel charged with going after terror suspects did the job, sometimes using techniques that make some Americans uncomfortable.

Holder’s determination to reopen the CIA interrogation matter was strenuously opposed by CIA Director Leon Panetta, a former Democratic congressman and not exactly a friend of the Bush crowd. President Barack Obama said as recently as last month that he would rather “look ahead” than revisit the issue.

Who’s in charge? Holder works for the president. Panetta has given the president good advice, which apparently was not enough for the president to order the attorney general to back off. Meanwhile, it appears long-term homeland security considerations are being compromised to keep the left appeased.

Cheney’s warning should not be ignored.

Tags: other views, opinion, editorials, cheney, security, defense