Dick Cheney: Spend More On Defense, Not On Roads Or Food Stamps

WASHINGTON -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that President Barack Obama is "devastating" the U.S. military and needs to divert more resources away from domestic priorities such as rebuilding roads and making sure low-income people can get food.

During an event sponsored by Politico, Cheney said the next president needs to "turn around the whole trend" of cutting defense dollars.

"That ought to be our top priority for spending. Not food stamps, not highways or anything else," Cheney said. "Your No. 1 responsibility as president is to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. [Obama] is the commander-in-chief and he's absolutely devastating the United States military today.

Cheney was a leading advocate of invading Iraq in 2003. He said last month that he has no regrets about waging that war, which carried a price tag of an estimated $2.2 trillion and 190,000 lives.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article incorrectly specified the total number of casualties in Iraq as the number of American casualties.