Bush said the information from terrorists in CIA custody has played a role in the capture or questioning of nearly every senior al-Qaeda member or associate detained since the program began. He said they include Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused Sept. 11 mastermind, as well as Abu Zubaydah, who was believed to have been a link between al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and many al-Qaeda cells.
"Were it not for this program, our intelligence community believes that al-Qaeda and its allies would have succeeded in launching another attack against the American homeland," Bush said.
He said he was going public because the US has largely completed questioning the suspects, and because the program had been jeopardized by a Supreme Court ruling.
He also laid out his plan for how trials for detainees should be run.
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