sun who, your attempt at redefinition of the phrase "doesn't work" when one of the gents who is in the business reported in his rebuttal, yesterday, that they got actionable intelligence, tells me that you don't understand how to use the language, or that you are being willfully dishonest.
If, based on your further explanation, the point that you are attempting to make is the you don't believe that the outcome is worth the cost -- in hindsight -- that's certainly a point worth considering. The decision makers at the time either thought it was, or really didn't grasp the cost in image and perception that they risked in making that short term decision.
It is a non trivial point to consider, when one looks at various actions taken in the political context.
So, it may have worked (gleaned useful information) in some cases, may have been utterly useless in other cases, and may have led to bad intel ("tell them anything to make it stop") in other cases.
At the time, being in a reactive mode, it appears that the leadership decided that any little bit gleaned was worth nearly any cost. If you have issue with that judgment from a variety of political camps, a variety of people in this country are on side with you.