Former Vice President Dick Cheney said today that he was convinced that the harsh treatment of detainees by US interrogators had “saved thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands of lives,” claiming that al-Qaeda intended to attack a US city with a nuclear device.

Cheney insisted that he had “no regrets. I think it was absolutely the right thing to do.” He also claimed that the US was able to stop what he called “mass casualty attacks” from al-Qaeda, and suggested that his oath of office mandated the techniques used during the Bush Administration.

The Obama Administration has released memos related to the Bush-era torture of detainees, sparking harsh criticism from advocates of the policy. In one of the memos, the CIA inspector general said there was no conclusive proof that harsh interrogation yielded any information that helped to thwart any specific attacks.

Despite outrage from human rights groups, President Obama has promised not to prosecute any of the interrogators for their actions. The authors of the policy may face disciplinary action from their assorted bar associations, but the Justice Department’s report will not call for them to face prosecution either.

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