While the Senate Intelligence Committee tries to declassify a report on the CIA’s use of torture during the years after 9/11, former President George W. Bush defended the CIA on the eve of the expected release of the document. “We’re fortunate to have men and women who work hard at the CIA serving on our behalf,” Bush told CNN. “These are patriots. Whatever the report says, if it diminishes their contributions to our country, it is way off base. I knew the directors. I knew the deputy directors. I knew a lot of the operators. These are good people, really good people, and we’re lucky as a nation to have them.” Given Bush’s general silence since his exit from the Oval Office, it speaks volumes that he vouches for CIA members’ character. The programs he started after terrorists attacked the World Trade Center towers did, in fact, yield actionable intelligence, and he clearly thought this was a battle worth fighting. More…