( CNN ) -- President Obama said in an interview aired Sunday that the hardest decision he 's made since taking office was to send more troops to Afghanistan . In a `` 60 Minutes '' interview , President Obama said , `` I fundamentally disagree with Dick Cheney . '' Also in the interview on CBS ' `` 60 Minutes , '' Obama defended his decision to shut down the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , and he countered criticism from former vice president Dick Cheney . `` I fundamentally disagree with Dick Cheney -- not surprisingly , '' Obama said . `` I think that Vice President Cheney has been at the head of a movement whose notion is somehow that we ca n't reconcile our core values , our Constitution , our belief that we do n't torture , with our national security interests . I think he 's drawing the wrong lesson from history . '' Obama was responding to comments Cheney made to CNN 's `` State of the Union '' on March 15 , when he said the president is making the nation less safe by closing the Guantanamo prison and ending interrogation practices that Bush administration critics consider torture for terror suspects . Just a month into office , Obama ordered 17,000 troops to Afghanistan , the original front in the `` war on terrorism '' sparked by the September 2001 attacks on New York and Washington . `` I think it 's the right thing to do . But it 's a weighty decision because we actually had to make the decision prior to the completion of the strategic review that we were conducting , '' Obama said . Coming off a tumultuous week over the millions in bonuses paid out to employees of AIG , Obama said Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner 's job is secure despite critics calling for his resignation . Obama joked that even if Geithner were to tender his resignation , the president would tell him , `` Sorry buddy , you 've still got the job . '' Geithner has come under fire over the $ 165 million in bonuses AIG paid its top executives after the insurance giant received more than $ 170 billion in federal bailout money . A loophole in the recently approved economic stimulus bill , included at the behest of the Treasury , allowed AIG to pay the bonuses . `` It 's going to take a little bit more time than we would like to make sure that we get this plan just right , '' Obama said . The president also stressed that his administration wo n't endorse a House bill that would levy a 90 percent tax on bonuses paid out by companies that receive bailout money . `` As a general proposition , you do n't want to be passing laws that are just targeting a handful of individuals , '' Obama said . `` You want to pass laws that have some broad applicability ... you certainly do n't want to use the tax code to punish people . ''
Dick Cheney has drawn ' the wrong lesson from this , ' president said . Obama said his hardest decision so far is sending more troops to Afghanistan . He would n't accept resignation from Defense Secretary Geithner , Obama said . Obama said he would n't endorse a 10 percent tax on bonuses , targeting just a few .