Tenet’s C.I.A. Unprepared for Qaeda Threat, Report Says

Tenet deserves much of the blame for what happened on September 11th. But the principal blame falls on the laps of the politicians;in particular, George Bush. Tenet sat in on cabinet meetings and warned of the threat from al Qaeda. It was the decision of the Clinton and Bush administration's not to deal the terrorism threat more urgently. It was the Bush crowd, in particular, that essentially ignored the al Qaeda threat. They were more preoccupied with Iraq and Iran early on (as former terrorism czar Richard Clarke has pointed out). That obsession led the Bushies to use the terror attacks of 9-11 as a pretext to invade Iraq:

The former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet, recognized the danger posed by Al Qaeda well before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but failed to adequately prepare the C.I.A. to meet the threat, according to an internal agency report that was released in summary form today.

Mr. Tenet was sometimes too occupied with tactics instead of strategy, and he was lax in promoting an information-sharing environment within the C.I.A., the agency’s Inspector General’s office says in a report released today.

[...]“They did not always work effectively and cooperatively, however,” the team concluded, in what amounted in part to sharp criticism of Mr. Tenet’s management skills and style.

“The team found neither ‘a single point of failure’ nor a ‘silver bullet’ that would have enabled the intelligence community to predict or prevent the 9/11 attacks,” the inspector general’s office said. “The team did find, however, failures to implement and manage important processes, to follow through with operations, and to properly share and analyze critical data.”