President Bush confirmed Wednesday that the CIA has been spiriting al-Qaida operatives into secret prisons for interrogations using what he described politely as "an alternative set of procedures." And he did so with justified pride.

For these prisons, which have been decried as black boxes of despotism, and these "procedures," which have been condemned as barbarism, played vital roles in protecting America from attack the past five years. Lives — many lives — were saved because the CIA squeezed information out of Osama bin Laden's henchmen.

The procedures were safe and complied with U.S. laws, the Constitution and treaties, Bush said, while making it plain that agents applied some otherwise unpleasant techniques that we can only imagine to prisoners such as Abu Zubaydah, who helped run a camp that trained some of the 9/11 attackers. Zubaydah identified Khalid Shaikh Mohammed as the mastermind behind 9/11 and provided information that led to the capture of a series of operatives who were engaged in a variety of plots against targets in the United States.

Reported the president: "Terrorists held in CIA custody have also provided information that helped stop a planned strike on U.S. Marines at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti. They were going to use an explosive-laden water tanker. They helped stop a planned attack on the U.S. Consulate in Karachi using car bombs and motorcycle bombs. And they helped stop a plot to hijack passenger planes and fly them into Heathrow or Canary Wharf in London."

In describing all this, Bush presented an implicit question to those who say the secret prisons betray all that America stands for: Would you rather die? He also issued a challenge to Congress by announcing that he has ordered 14 "high-value" CIA prisoners, for now the last of the agency's detainees, shipped to the prison at Guantanamo Bay, there to be tried for war crimes — if, and only if, Congress enacts rules for convening military tribunals.

This must be done because, lacking the wisdom to recognize that the United States is waging a war like none before, the Supreme Court said it's necessary, while also directing the president to abide by obstructive niceties in dealing with prisoners. So Congress, where many have bashed Bush as a traitor to civil liberties, is now responsible for spelling out the procedures for exacting justice from al-Qaida murderers, including the chief 9/11 plotter.

Will any on the Hill dare to demand such rights for these prisoners as would impair America's ability to protect and defend itself? They damn well better not.