Waterboarding: the most horrific experience of my life

Dick Cheney has asked for secret US documents to be released showing that harsh CIA interrogation techniques such as waterboarding produced valuable intelligence.

The former US Vice President used an interview with FOX News to step into the row that has developed since President Obama ordered the publication of Bush administration legal memos justifying practices which are condemned in many parts of the world as torture.

Mr Cheney said that he had made a formal request to the CIA for the documents be declassified because he knew that the interrogation process - now banned by Mr Obama - had been very successful, and he wanted the rest of the country to understand.

The additional documents had to be made public to allow an "honest debate", Mr Cheney said.

In the interview, Mr Cheney also attacked Mr Obama for apologising for US actions that he said did not need apologising for, and for actions and statements which he claimed had harmed the standing of the US in the world.

"One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort," Mr Cheney said.

"I haven't talked about it, but I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw, that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country.

"I've now formally asked the CIA to take steps to declassify those memos so we can lay them out there and the American people have a chance to see what we obtained and what we learned and how good the intelligence was."

Mr Cheney made his comments as Mr Obama visited CIA headquarters to speak to staff, trying to boost morale.

He said that CIA officials had his full support and were vital to the fight against US opponents. He added that he had had no choice but to release the torture memos.

"Don't be discouraged that we have to acknowledge that potentially we've made some mistakes. That's how we learn," he said.

Hours later Mr Cheney criticised Mr Obama's handling of national security. He said the biggest task he had had was to protect the nation's security following 9/11 and to ensure such devastation would never happen again, but that many of the policies he had set up were being dismantled by the Obama administration.

"There's a great temptation for a new Administration to find a problem and blame it on the predecessor. We did it. The Obama administration is not the first one to do that," he said in an interview with Sean Hannity, aired last night.

Mr Cheney went on that he had been concerned at the way the US had been presented overseas since his he left the White House. He said that he found Mr Obama's apologies to various countries "disturbing".

"Since the US provides most leadership in the world, I don't think we have much to apologise for," said Mr Cheney.

He said that Mr Obama's "cosiness" with critics of America such as Daniel Ortega and Hugo Chavez set the wrong standard and was not "helpful".

He warned that, while that a president needed to interact with adversaries, "it's got to be made clear that you do distinguish between good guys and bad guys, between those who believe in democracy, who are friends and allies of the US, and those who don't".

He said that the world would be quick to take advantage of a situation if they perceived any weakness.

"It's important for the US that we don't come off as arrogant - but also important to not come across as weak, indecisive and apologetic," said Cheney.

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