Clinton says Cheney not a "reliable source"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took aim on Wednesday at former Vice President Dick Cheney, telling lawmakers she did not view him as a "particularly reliable source" on issues of torture.

Asked about Cheney's request this week to declassify documents showing the "success" of some widely condemned, harsh interrogation techniques launched by ex-President George W. Bush after the September 11 attacks, Clinton had a caustic reply.

"It won't surprise you that I don't consider him (Cheney) a particularly reliable source," Clinton told the House of Representatives foreign affairs committee.

Last week, the Democratic Obama administration released classified Bush-era legal memos detailing the interrogation program, which symbolized U.S. excesses in fighting terrorism after the September 11 attacks.

Clinton said she backed a "nonpolitical", "nonpartisan" review of the interrogation program. "I believe we ought to get to the bottom of this entire matter. I think it is in the best interest of our country and that is what the president believes," she said.

The White House spokesman on Tuesday also addressed Cheney's comments, saying Obama had had a policy disagreement with Cheney on this issue for at least two years.

"That policy disagreement is whether or not you can uphold the values in which this country was founded at the same time that you protect the citizens that live in that country. (The) president of the United States in this administration believes that you can. The vice president has come to, in our opinion, a different conclusion," spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

Cheney, who has served several Republican presidents, has emerged as one of the more outspoken critics of the Obama administration among former Bush officials.

(Reporting by Sue Pleming; editing by David Storey)