[Opinion] Tenet Resigns as C.I.A. Chief

At a hotel nearby the White House on September 11, 2001, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) George J. Tenet was having breakfast with Mr. Boren, a former U.S. senator. He asked Mr. Boren, his long time political supporter, "What bothers you nowadays?" "It`s Bin Laden," said Mr. Boren. Mr. Tenet had alrealy predicted that Bin Laden would become a serious threat to the world two years before. "What makes this individual a serious threat to the world?" Boren asked. "The reason people are saying that is because they don`t really know about Bin Laden`s real capabilities," answered Tenet. This is the first episode from a book, titled “Bush at War” that was released last year by Bob Woodward, an assistant managing editor of The Washington Post.

▷ George J. Tenet, the besieged Director of Central Intelligence, abruptly resigned Thursday. Even though US President Geroge W. Bush praised him for his services, a controversy is brewing over his resignation as to if the president actually fired him. In fact, Mr. Tenet was under heavy criticism and blame of his agency for its failure to detect the Sept. 11, 2001 terror plot and its assessments that Iraq had possessed weapons of mass destruction before the American invasion last year. It seems that Bush, who is facing a tough re-election campaign with Iraqi issues, needed Mr. Tenet as a scapegoat.

▷ Tenet started his relation with the former Clinton administration upon former Senator Boren`s recommendation. He was appointed as the Intelligence Officer of the National Security Council (NSC) in 1992. He became Deputy Director of the CIA in 1995, and was finally appointed as the Chief of the CIA two years later. It is quite unlikely that the reason for his stepdown was only due to his poor performance in the agency since he remained in his position as chief for almost seven years. Former Special Adviser for Cyberspace Security, Richard A. Clarke, who blamed the Bush administration for its intelligence failure on anticipating Sept. 11 in his recent book, also praised Tenet’s performance.

▷ The Director of CIA is chief not only of the spy agency but also of the intelligence community who collectively presides over ten other intelligent agencies. His duty is to provide the U.S. president with final intelligence information. Now that the CIA has the “eyes” and the “ears” that see and watch the world, it is natural for it to have high-level intelligence power. However, people have raised their voices for intelligent agencies` reform since Sept. 11, 2001. Therefore, it appears that the argument for high-level policy makers (including the U.S. president) to improve their ability to absorb “security information” will gain more momentum.

Editorial writer Song Moon-hong songmh@donga.com