A report has found the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, established by U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower, has had moments of extreme usefulness, such as in the 1990s when it examined the failures that led to nuclear secrets being leaked from the Los Alamos National Laboratory, The Washington Times reported Monday.

But the PFIAB has also been relegated to little more than a dumping ground for political cronies under some presidents, while others have tried to ignore its second-guessing on intelligence decisions, said the report, issued by the Richard Lounsbery Foundation, a Washington research group.

The Times said the report is first time an exhaustive study has been undertaken of the PFIAB's history and capabilities. It quotes the study as saying that since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the intelligence failures it exposed, the PFIAB has proven to be "the one institution that is not blinded by preconceived ideas or institutional links and that can be of great use in thinking through these issues."