Cheney: Obama 'seems afraid' to make final decision on Afghan troop surge

President Barack Obama "seems afraid" to make a decision on how to proceed in Afghanistan, according to former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Cheney, who has been a stringent critic of the new president since leaving office, accusing Obama of "dithering" over a decision in the country.

"Having announced his Afghanistan strategy last March, President Obama now seems afraid to make a decision, and unable to provide his commander on the ground with the troops he needs to complete his mission," Cheney said Wednesday night during a speech at the Center for Security Policy.

"It’s time for President Obama to make good on his promise," the former vice president added. "The White House must stop dithering while America’s armed forces are in danger."

Obama is considering recommendations by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of troops in Afghanistan, that as many as 40,000 more troops are needed in the country to forestall a failed mission there.

Some Republicans have ramped up the pressure recently on Obama to make a decision on how to proceed in the country more swiftly, though arguably none has been as public or harsh as Cheney.

Cheney also criticized other national security decisions by the successor administration, saying that the president's decision to cancel a missile defense program in Europe represented a "serious blow" to the hopes and dreams of Europeans.

The Bush administration alumnus also said that characterizations of enhanced interrogation programs as torture are "a libel against dedicated professionals who acted honorably and well, in our country’s name and in our country’s cause."