"The report is full of crap."
That's what former Vice President Dick Cheney told Fox News in an interview about a Senate investigation that found the Central Intelligence Agency used brutal techniques to interrogate terrorism suspects and then misled lawmakers, the White House and Congress about what they were doing.
Cheney was combative and unrepentant, saying both he and President George Bush knew full well the techniques being used on detainees. Bush, he said, was an "integral part of the program" and "had to approve it before we went through with it."
Fox's Bret Baier pressed Cheney with specific details about some of the horrible things some prisoners were subjected to, including rectal rehydration. Cheney said what the administration approved was not tantamount to torture, but he added:
--"I have no sympathy for them [the detainees]."
-- "How nice do you want to be to the murderers of 3,000 Americans on 9/11?"
-- "I'd do it again in a minute."
-- The CIA did "a hell of a job and they deserve our gratitude."
-- The end "absolutely" justified the means.
It's a 13-minute interview, but it's worth your time:
Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
