Politics over the failed al Qaeda attempt to blow up a US plane turned ugly on Thursday with the White House entering into a verbal duel with former Vice President Dick Cheney, who had attacked President Barack Obama for "trying to pretend" America was not at war.
The White House today hit back on Cheney, charging that the "bellicose rhetoric" of the Bush-Cheney regime had failed to reduce the threat from al Qaeda.
Cheney has come out of the "woodwork" since the incident, a top Obama aide wrote on a White House blog. "It is telling that Cheney and others seem to be more focused on criticising the Administration than condemning the attackers".
The strong remarks from White House came hours after Cheney in a statement to Politico magazine said: "As I have watched the events of the last few days it is clear once again that President Obama is trying to pretend we are not at war".
Hitting back, Dan Pfeiffer, White House Communications Director, alleged that it was during the Bush-Cheney regime that al Qaeda and Taliban gained ground and established safe haven in the tribal regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"For seven years after 9/11, while our national security was overwhelmingly focused on Iraq – a country that had no al Qaeda presence before our invasion – Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda's leadership was able to set up camp in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan, where they continued to plot attacks against the United States," Pfeiffer wrote.
{{/usCountry}}"For seven years after 9/11, while our national security was overwhelmingly focused on Iraq – a country that had no al Qaeda presence before our invasion – Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda's leadership was able to set up camp in the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan, where they continued to plot attacks against the United States," Pfeiffer wrote.
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