President Barack Obama and former Vice President Dick Cheney gave what everyone is calling their dueling speeches about Guantanamo Bay today.
Obama stuck to his position that the prison has compromised our national security.

From the president:
“I know some have argued that brutal methods like waterboarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more. As commander-in-chief, I see the intelligence. I bear the responsibility for keeping this country safe. And I categorically reject the assertion that these are the most effective means of interrogation. What’s more, they undermine the rule of law. They alienate us in the world. They serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists, and increase the will of our enemies to fight us, while decreasing the will of others to work with America.”
Cheney, as expected, defended the policies of the Bush administration.

“And to call this a program of torture is to libel the dedicated professionals who have saved American lives, and to cast terrorists and murderers as innocent victims. What’s more, to completely rule out enhanced interrogation methods in the future is unwise in the extreme. It is recklessness cloaked in righteousness, and would make the American people less safe.”
The speeches were delivered as the country learned about a plot to bomb synagogues in Riverdale. Four suspects were arrested.

PHOTOS:

President Barack Obama delivers an address on national security, terrorism, and the closing of Guantanamo Bay prison today at the National Archives in Washington. Above is a mural painted by Barry Faulkner in 1936 of the Constitution Convention depicting James Madison delivering the final draft of the Constitution to George Washington. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

Former Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington today. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)