About half of Americans believe the CIA was justified in its harsh interrogation methods of "war on terror" detainees.
The results are contained in a poll by the Pew Research Centre and come just days after a damning US Senate report revealed harrowing details of torture.
The report said the CIA's interrogation of Al-Qaeda suspects, including beatings, rectal rehydration and sleep deprivation, was far more brutal than acknowledged and did not produce useful intelligence.
The findings triggered international condemnation and calls for those involved to face justice.
But 51 per cent of people in the US believe the CIA's methods were justified (29 per cent said not) and 56 per cent said the intelligence gathered from those methods prevented terrorist attacks.
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The national survey was conducted on Thursday to Sunday among 1,001 adults.
