Here’s a textbook example of how it works with the Bush Administration.  You can read about it in Bart Gellman’s review of Ron Suskind’s new book:

• Al-Qaeda member Abu Zubaydah was captured in March 2002.
• Zubaydah’s captors discovered he was mentally ill and charged with minor logistical matters, such as arranging travel for wives and children.
• The President was informed of that judgment by the CIA.
• Two weeks later, the President described Zubaydah as "one of the top operatives plotting and planning death and destruction on the United States."
• Later, Bush told George Tenet, "I said he was important. You’re not going to let me lose face on this, are you?" and asked Tenet if "some of these harsh methods really work?"
• The methods — torture — were applied.
• Then, according to Gellman, "Under that duress, he began to speak of plots of every variety — against shopping malls, banks, supermarkets, water systems, nuclear plants, apartment buildings, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty."
• At which point, according to Suskind, "thousands of uniformed men and women raced in a panic to each . . . target."

UPDATE: Another quote from the new Suskind book:

The book’s opening anecdote tells of an unnamed CIA briefer who flew to Bush’s Texas ranch during the scary summer of 2001, amid a flurry of reports of a pending al-Qaeda attack, to call the president’s attention personally to the now-famous Aug. 6, 2001, memo titled “Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US.” Bush reportedly heard the briefer out and replied: “All right. You’ve covered your ass, now.”

Is that how this Administration responds to news it doesn’t like?  Pat the messenger on the head, give him a biscuit for doing his job, and then virtually ignore the message?

UPDATE:  Think Progress’s post on this subject is factually correct: "Torture of Mentally Ill Prisoner Led Administration To Pursue False Leads"