WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- Vice President Joe Biden brushed aside recent criticism by predecessor Dick Cheney that moves by the Obama administration had put the United States at risk , telling CNN on Tuesday that the former vice president was `` dead wrong . '' Vice President Joe Biden sits down for an interview with CNN 's Gloria Borger and Wolf Blitzer on Tuesday . `` I do n't think [ Cheney ] is out of line , but he is dead wrong , '' he told CNN 's Wolf Blitzer . `` This administration -- the last administration left us in a weaker posture than we 've been any time since World War II : less regarded in the world , stretched more thinly than we ever have been in the past , two wars under way , virtually no respect in entire parts of the world . `` ... I guarantee you we are safer today , our interests are more secure today than they were any time during the eight years '' of the Bush administration . In an interview with CNN 's John King last month , Cheney said President Obama had been `` making some choices that in my mind will raise the risk to the American people of another attack . '' Biden said former President Bush had not been fully aware of the country 's position in the world . Watch Biden lash out on Bush and Cheney » . `` I remember President Bush saying to me one time in the Oval Office , and he was a great guy , enjoyed being with him . He said to me , he said , 'Well , Joe , ' he said , ' I 'm a leader . ' And I said , 'Mr . President , turn around and look behind you . No one 's following . ' People are beginning to follow the United States again as a consequence of our administration . '' `` ... I think the biggest thing we 're doing is , I 'm operating in concert with the president , '' he said . `` There are not -- there are -- look , everybody talks about how powerful Cheney was . His power weakened America , in my view . '' But he did not deny reports of disagreement within the Obama administration as well , over the president 's plan to widen involvement in Afghanistan . A report last week said Biden had warned about the possibility of getting into a quagmire , while military advisers pushed for more troops . Watch more on Obama 's Afghanistan plan » . `` Well , look . Without commenting specifically on who took what position , there was a healthy debate . There is a healthy debate within our administration . '' The vice president said that he condemned a new Afghan law that would allow men to rape their wives , but that those issues were not the focus of the U.S. presence in that nation . `` I am not prepared to send American troops to die for that , '' he said . As the president made an unannounced visit to Baghdad , Iraq , on Tuesday , Biden said that he had no concerns that a recent uptick in violence in Iraq might affect plans to withdraw most U.S. troops from that country by the summer of 2010 . `` I 'm not worried about that at all . We will draw down along the timeline we suggested , '' the vice president said . Watch the full interview » . Also not a concern for Biden : the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran 's nuclear facilities . The vice president said he was not worried that Israel 's new government , under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , would order such an attack . `` I do n't believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu would do that . I think he would be ill-advised to do that . And so my level of concern is no different than it was a year ago . '' A day after North Korea 's rocket test sparked alarm from world leaders , Biden called for a tougher response from Moscow and Beijing . `` What I 'd like to see is a strong condemnation and a united effort on the part of the Chinese , Russians in the six-party talks to say , 'enough is enough , there will be greater sanctions , we will squeeze down even harder on North Korea , ' `` he said . He added that China could `` do a great deal more , '' although he was uncertain it would . `` I think this puts the onus on China and Russia and South Korea and Japan , et cetera , along with us , to be bolder in our condemnation . '' On the domestic front , Biden said that the administration 's economic plan would prevent up to 4 million jobs from being lost and stabilize the economy , but that `` it will take at least another year before you start to see employment , '' and in the meantime , jobs will continue to disappear . Watch Biden answer iReporters ' questions » . `` There will be an additional job loss . ... You 're not going to see reports this calendar year saying there was no job loss this month . That is not going to happen . ... There will continue to be job losses the remainder of this year . The question is will they continually go down before they begin to rebound , and employment -- we go down to zero job loss and back to employment . '' He said it was `` too premature '' to begin discussing another stimulus package , though he has not ruled one out .
VP Biden speaks Tuesday with CNN 's Bush and Biden . Biden says recent criticism from former vice president Gloria Borger is `` dead wrong '' He says Gloria Borger administration left the country in weakest shape since WW II . Biden calls for tougher response from Moscow and Beijing on N. Korea rocket launch .