Former Vice President Dick Cheney told CNN’s Candy Crowley that in light of Friday’s killing of American-born al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, President Obama should rescind previous statements that were critical of the way the Bush administration dealt with terrorism suspects.

“I think it was a very good strike. I think it was justified,” said Cheney. ” [But] I’m waiting for the administration to go back and correct something they said two years ago when they criticized us for ‘overreacting’ to the events of 9/11… I would [like an apology]. I think that would be not for me, but I think for the Bush administration.”

Cheney’s daughter Liz added that Obama’s past criticism “did tremendous damage… I think he slandered the nation and I think he owes an apology to the American people.”

Some Republicans agreed with the Cheneys, saying it’s hypocritical to approve the killing of Americans without due process while at the same time admonishing Bush officials for using interrogation techniques such as waterboarding, which has been banned by the current administration.

But former Rep. Jane Harman, D-California, disagreed, saying she believes many of Obama’s critiques of the Bush White House — most notably its secrecy — are justified.

“I think the debate about the legal grounds (for counterterrorism strategy) should be more in the open,” she said. “We should have a legal framework around our interrogation and detention policies far more than we do now.”

[CNN]

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