Torture Results Send CIA on False Errands

CIA's harsh interrogation methods have failed to drive valuable tips out of suspects, and even in some cases they have resulted in false leads.

The clues obtained through methods like waterboarding, which has a simulated drowning effect, have sent the US central Intelligence Agency's operatives on false errands around the world, says an unnamed former senior government officials who closely followed the interrogations, The Washington Post wrote on Sunday.

The official further stated that a majority of the tips earned by employing 'enhance interrogation techniques' were false, leading the US operatives to nowhere. It was emphasized however that much of the information sourced from suspects in the absence of harsh torture techniques were useful and of value.

In the case of suspected al-Qaeda operative Abu Zubayda, for example, employing the waterboarding technique yielded no valuable intelligence, the paper said.

It is reported that initially, Zubayda provided his interrogators with useful information including of al-Qaeda members and associates, before being forced to endure waterboarding.

Zubayda, 38, who has been behind bars for more than seven years, had alleged links with Ahmed Ressam, an al-Qaida member dubbed the 'Millennium Bomber' for his plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport on New Year's Eve, 1999.

Ressam, an Algerian national, was arrested by Customs officials for concealing explosives in the trunk of his car when he drove off a ferry in Port Angeles, Washington.