WASHINGTON - President Obama’s national intelligence director told
colleagues
in a private memo last week that the harsh interrogation techniques
banned by the
White House did produce significant information that helped the nation
in its
struggle with terrorists.

“High value information came from interrogations in which those
methods were
used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qa’ida organization
that
was attacking this country,” Adm. Dennis C. Blair, the intelligence
director, wrote
in a memo to his staff last Thursday.