Claims that US is less safe under Obama not credible: Powell

Washington, Feb. 22 (ANI): Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell has nullified claims that the United States is less safe under President Obama.

"The bottom line answer is the nation is still at risk. Terrorists are out there. They're trying to get through. But to suggest that somehow we have become much less safer because of the actions of the administration, I don't think that's borne out by the facts," CBS News quoted Powell, as saying.

Powell also questioned criticism by former Vice President Dick Cheney, who claimed that by not using extreme interrogation techniques such as waterboarding on terror suspects, the United States has become more vulnerable.

"The point is made, 'We don't waterboard anymore or use extreme interrogation techniques.' Most of those extreme interrogation techniques and waterboarding were done away with in the Bush administration. They've been made officially done away with in this current administration," Powell said.

"The Transportation Security Administration created by George Bush is still in action working in our airports; they take care of me every day that I go to an airport," he added.

He pointed out that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was also created under President Bush, "and it is still under President Obama working hard."

However, he admitted he was "surprised" by the lack of coordination among different agencies in dealing with the Detroit bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

"Should he have been given his Miranda rights either after 90 minutes or 15 hours? The story kept changing. I would have thought after all these years we would have had a process in place - either in the previous administration or in this administration - that when you get somebody like that, we all know how to respond and how to interrogate him, or not interrogate him," Powell said. (ANI)