Obama, Cheney Defend National Security Priorities

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• JIM LEHRER:

  Now, those extended excerpts from today's speeches by the president and the former vice president.

• PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA:

  After 9/11, we knew that we had entered a new era, that enemies who did not abide by any law of war would present new challenges to our application of the law, that our government would need new tools to protect the American people, and that these tools would have to allow us to prevent attacks instead of simply prosecuting those who tried to carry them out.

  Unfortunately, faced with an uncertain threat, our government made a series of hasty decisions. I believe that many of these decisions were motivated by a sincere desire to protect the American people.

  But I also believe that all too often our government made decisions based on fear rather than foresight, that all too often our government trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions.

  Instead of strategically applying our power and our principles, too often we set those principles aside as luxuries that we could no longer afford.

  I know some have argued that brutal methods like waterboarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. As commander-in-chief, I see the intelligence, I bear the responsibility for keeping this country safe, and I categorically reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation.

  What's more, they undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America.

  They risk the lives of our troops by making it less likely that others will surrender to them in battle and more likely that Americans will be mistreated if they are captured.