Of Course He Does

[Content Note: Torture.]

Former Vice President Dick Cheney Says CIA Torture Report Is 'Full of Crap':

Former Vice President Dick Cheney says a declassified Senate report on the controversial post-9/11 CIA interrogation program is "full of crap."

"I think it is a terrible report, deeply flawed," Cheney said on Fox News, his first televised interview since the report's release. "It's a classic example of where politicians get together and throw professionals under the bus."

Cheney said he had not read the entire 6,000-page classified document, drafted by Democrats and their staffs on the Senate Intelligence Committee, or the 500-page declassified and redacted executive summary. But he unequivocally said its findings were flawed and an affront to members of the CIA.

Speaking of throwing people under the bus, Cheney made sure to emphasize that his former boss knew exactly what was going on: Then-President George W. Bush "was in fact an integral part of the program. He had to approve it before we moved forward with it. He knew everything he needed to know and wanted to know about the program." Noted!

Cheney's main argument about the report being "full of crap," besides the charge of "classic" partisan scapegoating, is that people who are critical of torture—a categorization he rejects, naturally—have forgotten the context in which it happened.

The former vice president said he's particularly bothered by criticism over the treatment of Khalid Sheilk Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of 9/11. "He is in our possession, we know he's the architect [of the attacks], what are we supposed to do? Kiss him on both cheeks?" Cheney said.

"How nice do you want to be to the murderers of 3,000 people on 9/11?"

That is the rankest of rank false dichotomies. It's not like "kiss him on both cheeks" or "torture him" were our only options. There is a vast, cavernous space between being "nice" to someone and torturing him.

Asked whether the ends justify the means when it comes to brutal interrogations, Cheney said, "absolutely."

"I'd do it again in a minute," he said.

Yeah. We know. That's kind of the problem.