Cheney defends Bush anti-terror policies

WASHINGTON, May 12 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney says he will not "roll over" while the Obama administration accuses the Bush administration of "committing torture."

In an interview Tuesday with Fox News Channel, Cheney reiterated his charge that President Barack Obama's administration is "dismantling" the national security policies that kept the United States safe after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.

"I don't think we should just roll over when the new administration ... accuses us of committing torture, which we did not, or somehow violating the law, which we did not," Cheney said. "I think you need to stand up and respond to that, and that's what I've done."

He defended the Bush anti-terror policies, saying they were effective and not outside the law.

"The bottom line is we successfully defended the nation for seven and a half years against a follow-on attack to 9/11. That was a remarkable achievement," he said. "I think that we are stripping ourselves of some of the capabilities that we used in order to block, if you will, or disrupt activities by al-Qaida that would have led to additional attacks."