Obama Diminished US Power And Emboldened Enemies, Alleges Former VP Dick Cheney in His New Book

Former Vice President Dick Cheney has accused President Barack Obama of having allowed "American power to become significantly diminished" and for the growing terror threats within the country. Cheney, already known as a vehement critic of Mr Obama, raised a fresh volley of criticism in his upcoming book "Exceptional: Why The World Needs a Powerful America."

The book will be published on September 1 by Threshold Editions. Cheney is co-authoring the book with his eldest daughter Liz Cheney. Threshold is part of the publishing house Simon & Schuster, owned by CBS Corp, reports Reuters.

Emboldened Enemies

Cheney in a statement, released by the publisher said, "Unfortunately as we face the clear and present danger of a rapidly growing terrorist threat President Obama has significantly diminished our power, abandoned America's allies and emboldened our enemies."

Cheney was vice president for eight years under Republican President George W Bush and has been a votary of muscular American foreign policy. He also championed the Iraq war. In December 2014, he was in news with his fierce defence of CIA torture tactics, after an outcry that followed the Senate Intelligence Committee's report that disclosed harsh torture by CIA on terror suspect detainees, during the Bush era. Cheney not only defended the CIA's interrogation techniques, but also said they did not amount to torture and said, “I'd do it again in a minute.”

Worst President

In an interview published in Playboy magazine in March, Cheney blasted Mr Obama for his style of functioning . "I look at Barack Obama and I see the worst president in my lifetime, without question -- and that's saying something," Cheney stated. The former VP also said he used to have significant criticism of Jimmy Carter compared to Barack Obama the “damage he is doing to the nation it's a tragedy, a real tragedy and we are going to pay a hell of a price just trying to dig out from under his presidency.”

Cheney Blamed

Meanwhile, MSNBC’s Rachel Madow show came down heavily on Cheney’s criticism of Mr Obama and took Cheney to task for expanding Iran’s power and influence in the middle east region. The blog said it was Cheney’s policy on Iraq that actually allowed Iran to advance its nuclear-weapons program without any hitch. It said, under Bush administration Iranian nuclear program flourished as its centrifuges increased from 164 to 8,000.

Noting that the expansion of Iran’s power was a consequence of Bush era actions, it said, in 2003, a power vacuum was created with the unseating of Saddam Hussein. It was a hostile regime to Iran having waged many wars against it. It said Iran joyfully filled that power vacuum and Cheney was instrumental in that. It also alleged that it was under Bush/Cheney era that North Korea acquired nuclear weapons and the Republican White House largely ignored it.

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