CIA Walks Back Panetta's Claim That Cheney Wants Country Attacked

CIA Director Leon Panetta doesn't really think former Vice President Dick Cheney wants to see his country attacked, the intelligence agency said Tuesday. The CIA, through spokesman Paul Gimigliano, walked back a controversial statement Panetta recently made to The New Yorker while arguing that his quote was misinterpreted in the first place. "The director does not believe the former Vice President wants an attack. He did not say that," Gimigliano said. "He was simply expressing his profound disagreement with the assertion that President Obama's security policies have made our country less safe. Nor did he question anyone's motives." The statement comes after Cheney said Monday that he hopes his "old friend Leon was misquoted." Others had harsher words, with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., calling on the CIA chief to "retract immediately" his statement, arguing that the director crossed the line. "I disagreed with the Cheney policy on interrogation techniques, but never did it cross my mind that Dick Cheney would ever want an attack on the United States of America," the former GOP presidential candidate told FOX News Monday. "And it's unfair, and I think that Mr. Panetta should retract, and retract immediately. "By the way, I hear morale is not at an all-time high over at the CIA under Mr. Panetta's leadership," he said. Panetta, a long-time Washington insider with scant intelligence experience, has been caught in the middle of a political war during his first few months on the job. First, he had to deal with morale issues as President Obama cracked down on the rules for detainee interrogations. Then he stepped up to dispute House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's allegation that the CIA misled Congress about the use of "enhanced" interrogation techniques. In the latest crossfire, Panetta was firing back against Cheney's frequent media appearances in which he's accused Obama of making America less safe. According to The New Yorker, Panetta said Cheney "smells some blood in the water" on the security issue. "It's almost, a little bit, gallows politics. When you read behind it, it's almost as if he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point. I think that's dangerous politics," he said, according to the piece. Asked about the statement Monday, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs ducked. "I'm not going to get into motivations. That's not what our business is. The president's concern is keeping the American people safe," Gibbs said Monday.

RESPONSE Ok, so which is it, Leon?  You do, you don’t? The problem with these politicians is that they float these things out there just to get the damage done, then retract it, giving them the ability to later say, “Oh, I am sorry…” The fact of the matter is, he damaged Cheney with his sucker punch. Unreal.