Obama 'wrapped around the axle'

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Obama 'wrapped around the axle'

by Mark Silva

The Bush administration "kept the country safe'' with its tactics in the interrogation of suspected terrorists, says Dana Perino, the former press secretary for ex-President George W. Bush.

And the Obama administration has "made a mess of the whole thing'' in releasing Bush administration memo detailing the tactics, she says.

"I actually think that what you should look at is the former CIA directors who all said that they were against the move,'' she says in an interview conducted for CBS News' Washington Unplugged.

"I don't think that was a tough decision,'' Perino says of Obama's decision to disclose the memos. What would have been tough, she said, would be releasing them and calling for an investigation, or not release them and tell everyone "to back off.''

"Instead what he did was try to split the difference... What he's done is made a mess of the whole thing,'' Perino says. "The Obama administration is complete wrapped around the axle.''

As for congressional calls for an investigation, she says, members of Congress were brief about the program"they told the administration to continue,'' Perino adds. "It's very different talking about this today, in April 2009, when we've been safe for eight years.''

If they do investigate, she suggests, they should call House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to the witness stand.

"I do not think we need to investigate this,'' Perino concludes. "I think we've kept the country safe.... Politically, it is not smart for the Democrats to do this... The American people are not going to want a witch hunt, and they also have to protect us from a very brutal enemy.''

CBS News' Chip Reid hosts the talk with Perino, the last of four press secretaries during Bush's two terms in office.

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