Report says CIA did not work effectively against al Qaida before 9/11 attacks

Then-CIA Director George Tenet testifies before the September 11 Commission, in Washington, April 14, 2004.(Reuters File Photo)
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    A review by the CIA Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that CIA officers worked hard against al Qaida targets, but they "did not always work effectively and cooperatively, however," said the executive summary of the OIG's report on CIA's performance prior to the Sept. 11 attacks.

    The report said the OIG's review team had 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, but found failure to implement and manage important processes, to follow through with orations, and to properly share and analyze critical data.

    If intelligence officers had been able to view and analyze the full range of information available before Sept. 11, 2001, they could have developed a more informed context in which to assess the threat reporting of the spring and summer that year, the report said.

    The U.S. government and the intelligence agency, however, had not had a comprehensive strategy for combating al Qaida before Sept. 11, the report said.

    The summary report, which was completed in June 2005, was declassified at the request of Congress, which passed a bill earlier this month to implement some of the recommendations of the 9/11 commission and require the CIA's OIG to make available to the public within 30 days a version of the report's executive summary.

    In a statement, CIA Director Mike Hayden said that while the agency was meeting "the dictates of the law, I want to make it clear that this declassification was neither my choice nor my preference."

    He added that two directors of National Intelligence had supported the agency's position against the release of the report.

    Hayden said the release of this report "would distract officers serving their country on the frontlines of a global conflict."

    "It will, at a minimum, consume time and attention revisiting ground that is already well plowed. I also remain deeply concerned about the chilling effect that may follow publication of the previously classified work, findings, and recommendations of the Office of Inspector General," he said.

    When the CIA was declassifying the report, it focused chiefly on the protection of essential sources and methods, and it was unnecessary and unwise to permit identification of officers below the level of Center Chief, even if only by title, and those passages had been deleted, Hayden said.

    "Counter-terrorism is an exceptionally difficult challenge. The risks, and the stakes, are extremely high," he said.

    Arguing that enemies of the United States were "adaptive, resilient, and determined to strike us again here at home," Hayden acknowledged that there are limits to what intelligence can accomplish, and there can be no guarantee of perfect security.