August 22, 2007

Inspector General Cites Pre-9/11 CIA Failures

A new report shows that six years after the Sept. 11 attacks, there's still plenty of shame and blame to go around among those tasked with protecting Americans from terrorism.

The newly declassified findings of CIA Inspector General John Helgerson reveal "some 50 to 60 individuals" in the agency may have been aware that two of the hijackers, Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar, had been issued visas to enter the United States. The 9/11 commission pinpointed the CIA's decision not to add the known al-Qaida affiliates to its watch lists or notify the FBI when they were issued visas as one of the more spectacular intelligence failures leading up to the attacks.

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Posted at 12:00 PM
Posted to: Al-Qaida, Bush Administration, CIA, George Tenet, Terrorism
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May 02, 2007

Are U.K. Pols Braver Than American Ones?

The reviews are in on George Tenet's new apologia, and they are mostly not good. The ever-economical editorial board of the Philadelphia Inquirer today described the former CIA chief's book as an "exercise in keister-covering" -- under the headline, "A Schmoozer's Lament."

Most of the criticism can be distilled into this question: Why did Tenet wait until 2007 to go public with objections he had about the invasion of Iraq while it was still just a glint in President Bush's eye?

Because he couldn't without risking his job, seems the obvious answer. Tenet is not alone in waiting until he was out of the Bush administration's reach to reveal long-held criticisms of former bosses and colleagues: Richard Clark and Paul O'Neill have done it as well.

But across the pond, a sitting British official has given a lengthy, detailed account of mistakes made during the planning and execution phase of the war.

Continue reading "Are U.K. Pols Braver Than American Ones?"

Posted at 11:57 AM
Posted to: Bush Administration, George Tenet, Iraq, U.K.
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