Liz Cheney, co-founder of Keep America Safe and daughter to former Vice President Dick Cheney, is taking aim at President Obama for being quoted as saying the country "can absorb a terrorist attack."
In a statement issued on Wednesday afternoon, Cheney said, "This comment suggests an alarming fatalism on the part of President Obama and his administration."
The Washington Post lends context to the president's remark, which he reportedly made to journalist Bob Woodward and will featured his new book Obama's Wars:
Woodward's book portrays Obama and the White House as barraged by warnings about the threat of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil and confronted with the difficulty in preventing them. During an interview with Woodward in July, the president said, "We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever . . . we absorbed it and we are stronger."
Here's full text of the statement released by Cheney criticizing the comments:
"Americans expect our President to do everything possible to defend the nation from attack. We expect him to use every tool at his disposal to find, defeat, capture and kill terrorists. We expect him to deter attacks by making clear to our adversaries that an attack on the United States will carry devastating consequences. Instead, President Obama is reported to have said, 'We can absorb a terrorist attack.' This comment suggests an alarming fatalism on the part of President Obama and his administration. Once again the President seems either unwilling or unable to do what it takes to keep this nation safe. The President owes the American people an explanation."