That is very specifically NOT what he said.
Dick Cheney is a war criminal, and he needs to spend the rest of his life in prison for war crimes. Under his orders this country violated one of it's most important treaties.
People need to go down for this. This cannot be swept under the rug. If we try, we will have shamed ourselves in front of the international community for generations.
1. Obama has reinstated the Bush Military Tribunals, you know, the ones he roiled against when he was Candidate Obama. He claims they will be different in the following ways:
a. Statements elicited by enhanced techniques will be banned.
b. Heresay evidence will be limited.
c. More latitude will be allowed in selecting lawyers.
Clearly, these changes are cosmetic, not substantive.
And, he has not ruled out indefinite Preventive Detention, which means that these prisoners will neither get the Article 3 Criminal Trial, nor the Military Tribunal.
2.Thusfar the Obama Administration has continued the Bush-Cheney policies:
a. Military Tribunals
b. More troops in Afghanistan
c. No benchmarks
d. No timetables
e. Immunity for telecomm companies in the wiretapping cases
Conclusion: the Bush-Cheney policies are vindicated, and validated.