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CIA Report Criticizes Tenet, Others on Al-Qaeda
Former CIA Director George Tenet and other former and present agency officials have been criticized in an internal report for their efforts against al-Qaeda prior to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Jan. 7). The report by CIA Inspector General John Helgerson states that Tenet in a 1998 memo said the United States was “at war” with al-Qaeda, but that he failed to produce a plan to counter the terrorist organization. The report details other troubles at the agency before 2001 and includes both criticism and some praise for officials including Tenet, former Deputy Director of Operations James Pavitt and former agency Counterterrorist Center chief Cofer Black, sources told the Times. CIA Director Porter Goss should organize “accountability boards” to make recommendations on personnel actions for officials criticized in the report who remain with the agency. Former officials could receive letters of reprimand. Goss has sent the report to the House and Senate intelligence committees. In an e-mail to CIA employees, he said “much has been done at CIA and throughout the intelligence community to improve and reform the way we do business.” “The major changes to our agency are behind us,” Goss said. Helgerson plans to compile responses to his report from Tenet and around 24 other officials. The responses will be submitted to Congress. Tenet has asked former Senator Warrren Rudman (R-N.H.) to review the report, the Times reported. An official who has seen the report called it “thorough and professional.” However, a former intelligence official close to Tenet said the inspector general’s office did not interview policy-makers or non-CIA intelligence personnel, and failed to report that the agency put the most focus on al-Qaeda of any governmental body prior to 2001 (Shane/Risen, New York Times, Aug. 26).
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