ABC reports this evening that the CIA has released redacted copies of the reports requested by former Vice President Dick Cheney regarding enhanced interrogation techniques. They report that the information gleaned did in fact save many American and foreign lives. They also affirm President Bush's  statements that terrorist attacks were in fact thwarted.

According to these reports, one of the plots revealed by Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the 9/11 mastermind who was waterboarded two of the three times the technique was used according to other CIA reports, was to obtain and use anthrax spores and disperse them in heavily populated areas. Another was to commit another 9/11 event by flying hijacked airliners into London's Heathrow airport. Other information gleaned was extremely valuable in identifying and mapping Al Quaeda's financial network and hierarchy.

So where now are Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and Silvestre Reyes and Alcee Hastings and Maxine Waters and Jan Schakowsky and Adam Schiff and Anna Eshoo, who all castigated the CIA for what amounted to a a great big ball of nothing a few months ago? Their dark suspicions and accusations crashed and burned, and now we find the the President's assertions, when he knew the facts all along, were an outright lie to the American People. So he responds with a witch hunt.

The documents released Monday clearly demonstrate that the individuals subjected to Enhanced Interrogation Techniques provided the bulk of intelligence we gained about al Qaeda. This intelligence saved lives and prevented terrorist attacks. These detainees also, according to the documents, played a role in nearly every capture of al Qaeda members and associates since 2002. The activities of the CIA in carrying out the policies of the Bush Administration were directly responsible for defeating all efforts by al Qaeda to launch further mass casualty attacks against the United States. The people involved deserve our gratitude. They do not deserve to be the targets of political investigations or prosecutions. President Obama's decision to allow the Justice Department to investigate and possibly prosecute CIA personnel, and his decision to remove authority for interrogation from the CIA to the White House, serves as a reminder, if any were needed, of why so many Americans have doubts about this Administration's ability to be responsible for our nation's security.