Bush: The Information We Gained Saved Lives - Political News - FOXNews.com

Bush: The Information We Gained Saved Lives - Political News - FOXNews.com: "Former President George W. Bush on Thursday defended his decision to allow harsh interrogations on the terror mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, saying he did what was necessary to prevent what his advisers believed was another imminent attack.

Describing the decision to use waterboarding on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed after his capture in March 2003, Bush said the idea was first cleared with his lawyers in order to 'take whatever steps that were necessary to protect' the American public.

'The first thing you do is ask, what's legal? What do the lawyers say is possible?' he said. 'I made the decision, within the law, to get information so I can say to myself, 'I've done what it takes to do my duty to protect the American people.' I can tell you that the information we got saved lives.'"

Saving lives isn't the only metric. It would have saved lives to not fight the Revolutionary War but people thought that liberty was worth dying.