AFP: Internal CIA report faults ex director, others for pre 9/11 faults

AFP on Yahoo ^ | 8/26/05 | AFP - Washington

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An internal CIA report reportedly criticizes ex-CIA chief George Tenet and several other former and current CIA officials for not dealing effectively with Al-Qaeda before the September 11 attacks.

Tenet, who resigned in July 2004 after seven years at the top, was censured for failing to develop and carry out a strategic plan to take on Al-Qaeda in the years before the attacks, two people familiar with the report told The New York Times.

The highly classified report, put together by Central Intelligence Agency inspector general John Helgerson, described systemic problems at the CIA before the 2001 attacks, a former intelligence official and a current government official said.

Besides Tenet, it was also critical of James Pavitt, former deputy director of operations, and Cofer Black, former director of the agency's counter-terrorism center.

The report, the daily said, recommends that CIA director Porter Goss -- Tenet's successor, convene "accountability boards" to recommend disciplinary action against those faulted, the daily said.

While the daily provided sparse details of the report, which was delivered Tuesday to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees by Goss, it said an earlier draft had also found fault with the CIA for focusing too much on Al-Qaeda's leadership.

Former CIA officials familiar with the earlier draft said that by focusing on going after Osama bin Laden, the CIA missed opportunities to recruit low-level agents on the margins of Al-Qaeda who might have provided access to its inner workings.

The draft also criticized the intelligence agency for allowing thousands of pages of intercepted messages in Arabic to go untranslated.

It was unclear what disciplinary action could be taken against those criticized in the CIA report. For Tenet and other retired officials, the daily said, the only action possible was to send them a letter of reprimand.

For Eleanor Hill, who served on the joint congressional inquiry into September 11, the report provides accountability for the failures that permitted the attacks.

"The families of the victims had repeatedly asked for some kind of accountability," she said, adding that the congressional inquiry did not have time to do "the kind of painstaking work necessary to assess individual responsibility."

The New York Times also said the report put Goss in "a delicate position" because as head of the House Intelligence Committee in the years before September 11, he influenced intelligence policies and monitored intelligence agencies.

After the attacks, the daily added, Goss headed the joint Congressional inquiry into the attacks and requested the CIA inspector general's inquiry that produced the report.

[NormsRevenge]

An internal CIA report reportedly criticizes ex-CIA chief George Tenet and several other former and current CIA officials for not dealing effectively with Al-Qaeda before the September 11 attacks.(AFP/File/Luke Frazza

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U.S. President George W. Bush (R) awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to former CIA director George Tenet during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in this December 14, 2004 file photo. A long-awaited CIA inspector general's report on the agency's performance before the September 11, 2001 attacks includes detailed criticism of more than a dozen former and current agency officials, the New York Times reported on August 26, 2005. The highly classified report aims its sharpest language at Tenet, who is censured for failing to develop and carry out a strategic plan to take on al Qaeda in the years before 2001. REUTERS/Larry Downing/File

[NormsRevenge]

CIA Panel: 9/11 Failure Warrants Action ^

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1470881/posts

[NormsRevenge]

NY Times

C.I.A. Report Said to Fault Pre-9/11 Leadership

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1471529/posts

[coconutt2000]

All I can say is, "Duh!"

You know, if these people need someone to write up a bunch of reports regarding the failures that led to 9/11, I can probabl recommend a few FReepers who could do a better job than any Washington insider.



Then again, that doesn't take much.

[Dallas59]

I'm sick of this "who's fault is it" crap. ISLAMIC TERRORISTS CAUSED 9/11/2001...Doesn't matter who knew what, when, where, and how....It took 9/11 to open eyes. Case closed.

[endthematrix]

"the only action possible was to send them a letter of reprimand."

Uh oh, not the NASTY letter!

[AlGone2001]

"I'm sick of this "who's fault is it" crap"

I admit that the Islamofascists would have attempted no matter what, but we still need to determine who in our government ignored them or created policy to aid them.

Then we need to place all errors in public view to make sure they never occur again.

[thegreatbeast]

"Go ahead, move along. There's nothing to be seen here."

[CyberAnt]

I'm still asking the question .. WHO IN CONGRESS LEAKED THIS REPORT TO THE FRENCH ..??

The first media report said that ONLY CONGRESS would receive the report .. but already some of it is leaking out. So .. WHO'S THE LEAKER ..??

[backhoe]

Able Danger, 9-11 Report, Gorelick, and so much more...

Click the picture...

Sax solo suggestion? "Baker Street."