McClatchy paper: Cheney lied repeatedly in speech on closing Gitmo

Raw Story:

Here's a rundown of the other "omissions, misstatements and exaggerations" Cheney apparently made:

* Cheney said Obama's move to release Bush memos on torture was "flatly contrary" to national security.
- Fact: National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair "strongly supported" Obama's decision to release the memos and said "we do not need these techniques to keep America safe."
* Cheney claimed that the Bush team "moved decisively against the terrorists in their hideouts and their sanctuaries, and committed to using every asset to take down their networks."
- Fact: Osama Bin Laden and his chief lieutenant, Ayman al Zawahri , remain at large. Moreover, the US diverted critical military resources from Afghanistan to Iraq, where al Qaeda was not in force until the US invaded.
* Cheney asserted there was no connection between Bush administration torture and detainee abuse at Abu Ghraib.
- Fact: The Senate Armed Services Committee found in December that Abu Ghraib abuses were linked to approval of Bush administration techniques.
* Cheney said "only detainees of the highest intelligence value" were subjected to torture.
- Fact: Cheney ignored Abu Zubaydah.
* Cheney said "the key to any strategy is accurate intelligence."
- Fact: The Bush administration used bogus intelligence as a pretense for invading Iraq -- including a forgery that purportedly linked Saddam Hussein to an attempt to purchase uranium from Niger.
* Cheney ignored the recently "suicided" al Qaida operative Ali Mohamed al Fakheri, who provided bogus intelligence about Iraq's links to al Qaeda.
* Cheney said Obama selectively released documents on Bush detainee policies.
- Fact: A decision to withhold documents Cheney requested for declassification was made by the CIA under a standing order from President George W. Bush..
* Cheney claimed that only "ruthless enemies of this country" were detained by US agents and sent to secret prisons and Guantanamo.
- Fact: "A 2008 McClatchy investigation, however, found that the vast majority of Guantanamo detainees captured in 2001 and 2002 in Afghanistan and Pakistan were innocent citizens or low-level fighters of little intelligence value who were turned over to American officials for money or because of personal or political rivalries."
More of Cheney's falsifications, omissions and misstatements can be read here.
Also of note? Erstwhile President George W. Bush said he didn't watch either Vice President Cheney or President Barack Obama's speech.