Obama has 'diminished' U.S. power, Cheney says in new book

[April 08, 2015]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former Vice President Dick Cheney, already a fierce critic of President Barack Obama, accuses him in an upcoming book of allowing American power to become "significantly diminished" even as the threat of terrorism rises.

Cheney renews his criticism of Obama in "Exceptional: Why The World Needs a Powerful America," a book co-authored with his eldest daughter, Liz Cheney, due to be published on Sept. 1 by Threshold Editions, which has backed books by conservative authors. Threshold is part of publishing house Simon & Schuster, which is owned by CBS Corp .

"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 said in a statement released by his publisher.

As vice president for eight years under Republican President George W. Bush, Cheney advocated a muscular American foreign policy and championed the Iraq war.

He was back in the news in December after a Senate Intelligence Committee report detailed CIA torture of detainees during the Bush administration.

Cheney strongly defended the CIA's use of aggressive interrogation techniques on foreign terrorism suspects, saying the practices did not amount to torture. "I'd do it again in a minute," Cheney said.

In an interview published in Playboy magazine last month, Cheney escalated his criticism of Obama.

"I look at Barack Obama and I see the worst president in my lifetime, without question - and that's saying something," Cheney said.

"I used to have significant criticism of Jimmy Carter, but compared to Barack Obama and 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."

Liz Cheney, a former State Department official, last year dropped her bid to unseat a Republican incumbent senator from Wyoming, Michael Enzi, ending her first foray into national politics because of what she said were family health issues.

(Reporting by Will Dunham; Editing by Eric Beech)

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