Cheney Vindicated?

Back in April Dick Cheney claimed that CIA documents specifically two memos would show that the enhanced interrogations authorized by the Bush administration authorized by the Bush administration prevented a number of follow-on terrorist attacks. He requested that the memos be declassified and was refused by the Obama administration. The Department of Justice however released highly redacted versions of the memos yesterday.

The full memos are available here and are embedded below.

35_Detainee Reporting Pivotal for the War Against Al-Qaida

34_Khalid Shaykh Muhammad--Preeminent Source on Al-Qaida

Do they back Cheney's claims?

I hate to say it but as releasedthey don't. Unquestionably they show that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was a valuable source of information but I saw no mention of Enhanced Interrogation Techniques so I can't honestly say that the memos back Cheney's claims. That said who knows what's in the the redacted areas and Cheney would have been able to read that information as the Vice-President so he still has a leg to stand on.

It should be noted that according to the New York Times the CIA Inspector General report, which I have not read yet, does note that enhanced interrogation did work in some cases:

The report found that the interrogations obtained critical information to identify terrorists and stop potential plots and said some imprisoned terrorists provided more information after being exposed to brutal treatment.

But the inspector general’s review raised broad questions about the legality, political acceptability and effectiveness of the harshest of the C.I.A.’s methods, including some not authorized by the Justice Department and others that were approved, like the near-drowning technique of waterboarding.