A report released by the U.S. Senate claims torture tactics used on suspected terrorists did nothing to help in the search for Osama bin Laden, the the Associated Press reported.
According to unidentified congressional aides and outside experts, the report details how "enhanced interrogation techniques" like sleep deprivation and waterboarding -- authorized after the Sept. 11 attacks -- were not only cruel but ineffective.
One of the terror suspects the report names is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who CIA officials waterboarded 183 times. While officials acknowledged he knew an Al Qaeda courier, the report argues that specific information was not significant to the search for bin Laden.
Much of the investigation suggests that Mohammed and other prisoners were subjected to harsh punishment even though U.S. intelligence authorities already knew the information they wanted to pry out of them.
Additionally, aides in the report say it demonstrates how important the National Security Agency was to investigations overseas.
According to the AP, Sen. Dianne Feinstein -- chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee -- and her colleagues have not spoken much about the report.
However, after former CIA deputy director Jose Rodriguez said the prisoners provided "lead information" on the bin Laden hunt, Feinstein responded that "The original lead information had no connection to CIA detainees."
Following news of the report, a Twitter account for John Kiriakou -- an anti-torture whisteblower in prison -- tweeted "John Kiriakou is in prison for exposing the crime and ineffectiveness of torture. Now the world is learning."
