Dick Cheney warns of potential 9/11 with 'much deadlier weapons'

(CNN)


1 photo
Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 1-2 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

WASHINGTON (CNN) — Former Vice President Dick Cheney believes there could be "another 9/11 style attack with much deadlier weapons" in the future and said ISIS is "extraordinarily dangerous" to U.S. homeland security.

More than a decade after helping to lead the U.S. into war in Iraq, Cheney blamed President Barack Obama for the spread of ISIS and said in an interview with CNN that he is worried terrorists could use "chemicals or biological agents or nuclear weapons."

"Remember, the weapon they used on 9/11, airline tickets and box cutters. That's -- was a difficult, terrible day for us, 3,000 casualties. It'll be a lot worse if they find deadlier weapons," Cheney told CNN's Jamie Gangel.

Cheney insisted that Iraq "was in good shape" when he and President George W. Bush left office in 2009 thanks to the surge and said Obama's administration "failed to follow through."

"They withdrew as quickly as possible and left no stay-behind force there. They created a vacuum. And the vacuum was filled by ISIS," Cheney said.


They (Obama administration) created a vacuum. And the vacuum was filled by ISIS.

–Dick Cheney


Cheney pointed to ISIS's ability to recruit people living in the United States to go fight in Syria and Iraq and the danger that those recruits to return to the U.S. particularly concern him.

"I think ISIS is very dangerous indeed," Cheney said. "Especially if you think about the prospects of nuclear weapons being developed in the Middle East.

Copyright 2015 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Photos

Related stories

Most recent U.S. stories

Related topics

U.S.
Jeremy Diamond

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast