May 21, 2009: Obama cites ‘mess’; Cheney hits ‘rhetoric’ (Politico)

  • “We are not going to release anyone if it would endanger our national security, nor will we release detainees within the United States who endanger the American people,” the president said. “Where demanded by justice and national security, we will seek to transfer some detainees to the same type of facilities in which we hold all manner of dangerous and violent criminals within our borders – highly secure prisons that ensure the public safety.”
  • “Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions,” Obama said. “I believe that many of those decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people. But I believe that – too often – our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often our government trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions.” 

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