For the first time, George Tenet speaks out on
his tenure as one of the most influential and
longest-serving CIA directors in history in his
new book, AT THE CENTER OF THE STORM:
The CIA During America's Time of Crisis.  

In vivid and unprecedented detail, Tenet looks
at two of the most controversial issues of our
time—the attacks of 9/11 and the war on
terror, as well as the U.S. invasion of Iraq and
its disastrous aftermath. While candidly
admitting responsibility for the many
shortcomings of U.S. intelligence, Tenet points
out where the CIA and the intelligence
community got things right—sometimes only
to be thwarted by policy makers across two
administrations.

Beginning with his appointment as Director of
Central Intelligence in 1997, Tenet describes
his increasing alarm at the mounting threat
posed by terrorism and his frustration at the
lack of resources and authorities provided to
combat it.

One of the most riveting portions of the book
is his account of an emergency meeting he
called for with Condoleezza Rice on July 10,
2001. At this meeting, Tenet and top CIA
counterterrorism officials laid out critical new
information that pointed to an imminent
terrorist attack on U.S. interests. In
describing the momentous events that led up
to 9/11, Tenet explodes the myth that the CIA
was authorized to kill Usama bin Ladin prior
to the al-Qa’ida attack. In addition, he details
the CIA’s operational plan to fight terrorists
worldwide,  the coordinated and devastating
counterattack against al-Qa’ida CIA gave the
president just six days after the attacks, and
describes the capture of key al-Qa'ida
operatives like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Turning to the war in Iraq, with a never-
before-seen insider’s look, AT THE CENTER
OF THE STORM describes the extraordinary
lengths that Vice President Cheney, Deputy
Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and other
senior members of the Bush administration
went to to try to connect Iraq with al-Qa’ida.
Tenet personally intervened with the
president on the eve of the Iraq war to prevent
the vice president from making a speech that
would have made unsupportable assertions on
the matter.

He also provides insight and background on
several important events surrounding Iraq
including: the true context of his now-famous
“slam dunk” comment from the December 2002
Oval Office meeting; a first-hand account of
the fallout from the inclusion of “sixteen
words” in the president’s 2003 State of the
Union address, which claimed that Saddam
Hussein had sought to purchase uranium from
Africa; and the CIA’s unheeded warnings both
before and after the war about the prospects
for instability in Iraq.

In the whirlwind of accusations and
recriminations that emerged in the wake of
9/11 and the Iraq war, George Tenet’s vital
testimony has been conspicuously absent.
Now, breaking his silence in AT THE CENTER
OF THE STORM, he draws on his unmatched
experience to offer a moving, revelatory self-
portrait of both a man and a nation in crisis.
GEORGE J. TENET
Facts From and About the Former
Director of Central Intelligence
At the Center of the Storm