The White House is pushing back against Dick Cheney's emphatic defense of enhanced interrogation techniques used by the CIA on post-9/11 detainees, saying the former vice president is "wrong."
On NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Cheney denied that the program employed torture, as the Senate Intelligence Committee's damning report on the practices suggested, including water-boarding, rectal feeding and hydration.
Instead, Cheney insisted agents "very carefully avoided" torture, that rectal feeding and hydration were "done for medical reasons" and that he wasn't concerned about treatment doled out to those later found innocent.
The former vice president insisted he'd
"do it again in a minute" to protect the American people.
Though White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Monday couldn't say whether President Barack Obama had seen the former vice president giving his vigorous defense, he didn't buy the arguments.
"I can say unequivocally that the president certainly believes that the former vice president's assessment is wrong," Earnest said, the
Washington Examiner reports.
Earnest also reiterated the administration's stance that the CIA program damaged the nation's international standing, saying that even Cheney would likely agree that "our moral credibility around the globe is an important tool in our arsenal for advancing and promoting America's interests around the world."
The Hill notes the president has said he thinks the CIA methods amounted to torture and were a mistake, though he hasn't said whether he thinks the program provided any useful information or whether those responsible should face prosecution.
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