The man with the secrets
His epic run is over, but questions about George Tenet's tenure at the CIA sure aren't
George Tenet likes his cigars. At his office on the seventh floor of CIA headquarters, the director likes to pull open the sliding doors overlooking the nearby treetops and enjoy a good smoke. For years, his cigar breaks have driven the CIA's security people nuts, but those worries are soon to be over. Last week, Tenet, the longest-serving CIA director in 43 years, finally called it quits, telling President Bush that he was resigning July 11 for "personal reasons."
In retrospect, it's a miracle Tenet survived this long. Seven years is an eternity for a director of the Central Intelligence Agency; his three immediate predecessors each lasted less than two years. And Tenet's time at the helm was hardly smooth. For much of his tenure he seemed to lurch from crisis to crisis, weathering extraordinary failures from the horror of 9/11 to the furor over prewar intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. His departure will hardly calm the storm swirling around Washington's far-flung intelligence community. The weeks ahead, instead, will see a parade of stinging reports, prompting more soul searching and questions about the work product delivered by U.S. spy agencies. What emerges from the clamorous debate may determine the future of America's intelligence community for years to come.
No modern CIA director has survived without controversy. Trying to run an agency charged with stealing secrets is bound to draw unwanted attention in this age of global media and 24-hour news cycles. Despite the criticisms, many give Tenet plaudits for a job well done. In the face of often poisonous partisanship in Washington, Tenet was an anomaly--only the second CIA chief to serve both Republican and Democratic administrations. When he took over in 1997, the CIA was hobbled by tight budgets and strict rules tying the hands of overseas operatives, agency veterans say. In a speech to CIA employees announcing his departure, Tenet pointed to what he called "a massive transformation of our intelligence capabilities." Indeed, the CIA director is widely credited with bringing billions in new funding into the agency, boosting morale, and rebuilding the agency's clandestine service.
Tenet is particularly proud of the CIA's work in the war on terrorism, close aides say, as well as the Middle East peace process and the agency's unraveling of a nuclear black market that stretched from Pakistan to Libya and North Korea. Since 9/11, the CIA has spearheaded a global assault on al Qaeda cells that has taken out two thirds of the terrorist group's leadership.
For many, though, Tenet's record is a troubling one. Some spy veterans liken his tenure to that of the last CIA director to serve for many years--the Reagan administration's William Casey, who similarly boosted funding and morale but then led his troops into the quagmire of the Iran-contra scandal. "Tenet will probably end up like Casey," says Milt Bearden, who for 30 years helped run covert operations for the CIA. "He will be among its most beloved directors, but at the same time among those with the most destructive legacies."
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