last week ' s release of long - secret state division interrogation memorandums has given rise to starkly offensive narratives about what , if anything , was secured by the c . i . a . ' s use of waterboarding , wall - hitting and other physical blows to hit and intimidate qaeda insurgents . prominent bush administration authorities , led by vice president dick cheney and cheered by many liberal republicans , are fighting a frontal - guard action in defense of their career . only by using the fiercest methods , they insist , did the intelligence agency gotten the information it had to dispatch up qaeda killers and save miles of american alive .
Dick Cheney was the chief of the Justice Department.