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| Cheney Backs Handling of Detainees at Cuba Base |
| 2005-05-31 |
| WASHINGTON, May 30 - Vice President Dick Cheney has emphatically defended the handling of detainees at Guantänamo Bay, Cuba, saying that they have been "well treated, treated humanely and decently" and that some accusations to the contrary are lies. The vice president largely dismissed assertions that guards or interrogators at the United States base had mishandled the Koran or beaten detainees. He said repeatedly that freed detainees were "peddling lies." The remarks, in an interview taped on Friday for a "Larry King Live" shown on CNN on Monday night, were one of the more unapologetic defenses of conduct at Guantänamo. Amnesty International last week compared the detention center to a gulag-style camp. Asked about that, Mr. Cheney replied, "Frankly, I was offended by it." He said that many detainees were "individuals who have been actively involved as the enemy, if you will, trying to kill Americans" and that some had provided "significant amounts of intelligence." "What we're doing down there has, I think, been done perfectly appropriately," Mr. Cheney added. In the wide-ranging interview, Mr. Cheney called Kim Jong Il of North Korea "one of the world's more irresponsible leaders" and said China needed to press him harder to renounce his nuclear program. The vice president also said he felt "more optimistic than I've been at any time in the last four years" about prospects for Mideast peace. Asked whether the United States had ever been close to capturing Osama bin Laden, Mr. Cheney said, "I can't say that we've ever been close to bin Laden." It was an unusually candid comment from an administration that often speaks of successes in dismantling parts of Qaeda leadership. On the nomination of John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations, Mr. Cheney said he felt sure that the votes for confirmation would be marshaled when the Senate returned from a weeklong recess. Calling Mr. Bolton "a superb public official," Mr. Cheney brushed aside Democrats' requests for more information on him, saying: "I think it's just an excuse. There's nothing being hidden from them." More urgent comments dealt with the accusations of abuse of the Koran at Guantänamo. Those reports have been blamed for inflaming anti-American sentiment and sparking riots in Muslim countries. Mr. Cheney said the Pentagon had "found that nearly all of those reports were not true." A detainee's report that a Koran had been flushed down a toilet, he said, has been shown to be "totally bogus." |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #2 Or better yet, a 25-year old jihadi's heart. I know where we can get some, too. |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-05-31 13:16 |
| #1 I wonder if someone will step up and donate a 25 year old SEAL's heart to Cheney before '08? |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2005-05-31 09:54 |