The CIA released a memo on Friday where George Tenet, Clinton’s CIA Director, accused the Clinton administration of gutting anti-terrorism efforts against al Qaeda before 911.
As head of the CIA, Tenet repeatedly requested more money directed to anti-terrorism efforts or, to be allowed to prioritize those efforts ahead of narco-trafficking. He was turned down for more money and ignored on reprioritization.
Tenet noted that the efforts they were able to use to target al Qaeda stopped a major attack in late 1999-2000. The memo did not provide details.
The document was a response to an inspector general’s draft report that had accused Mr. Tenet of failing to give al Qaeda enough attention in the months leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks. But Mr. Tenet said he did take steps, amid all the other work CIA was also required to do.
“Your report does not adequately address the context of an intelligence community that had to respond to wars in Bosnia and Kosovo, the prospect of war between India and Pakistan, China’s military buildup and threat to Taiwan, the requirements of policy makers, particularly in Congress, to pursue narco-traffickers in Central and South America, and numerous other such requirements,” Mr. Tenet wrote. “Despite all of these stresses, despite the fact that we had effectively been in Chapter 11 as an intelligence community, we continued on a path to methodically increase both CIA and intelligence community resources and our personnel base devoted to terrorism.”
In response to criticism by the Inspector General, tenet detailed the follow-up efforts he made, and the number of times he pleaded with administration officials for more money to fight terrorism. On nine occasions Tenet sent memo to senior White House officials and to Congress warning of terrorist plots.
Here’s the coffin nail for the Clinton administration.
“Even though senior policy makers were intimately familiar with the threat posed by terrorism, particularly those in the [Clinton administration] who had responded to major attacks, they never provided us the luxury of either downgrading other high priority requirements we were expected to perform against, or the resource base to build counterterrorism programs with the consistency that we needed before September 11.
Looks like Hillary followed in Bill’s footsteps before the attack in Benghazi. She wanted her own 911. She got it.
Unfortunately, Amb. Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, and Navy SEALs Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty paid for it.
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