Former Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking just after President Obama's speech on terrorism, torture and Guantanamo Bay, defended the Bush administration's anti-terrorism tactics and said his perspective on his role as vice president changed drastically after September 11, 2001.

"There in the bunker came the reports and the images that so many Americans remember from that day," Cheney said, as he described some of the horrifying scenes he and the general public watched that day.

"In the years since, I've heard occassional speculation that I'm a different man after 9/11. I wouldn't say that. But I'll freely admit that watching a coordinated, devastating attack on our country from an underground bunker at the White House can affect how you view your responsibilities."

On the focus of interrogation techniques used under the Bush administration, and which Obama has put an end to, Cheney said it's far more important to look forward than to continue to investigate what happened in the past.

"It's hard to imagine a worst president filled with more possibilities for trouble and abuse than to have an incoming administration criminalize the policiy decisions of his predecessor," Cheney said. "The danger here is a loss of focus on national security and what it requires."