Shin Bet (also known as Shabak)—The internal Israeli security service.
TTIC—Terrorist Threat Information Center; established May 1, 2003, the TTIC became NCTC.
UNSCOM—United Nations Special Commission; provided inspections of Iraq for possible WMD from 1991 until it was withdrawn in late 1998.
UTN—Umma Tameer-e-Nau; Pakistani nongovernmental organization ostensibly founded to provide humanitarian relief but which offered al-Qa’ida advice on nuclear weapons.
WINPAC—Weapons Intelligence Nonproliferation and Arms Control Center; CIA organization that provides intelligence support aimed at protecting the United States and its interests from all foreign weapons threats.
WMD—Weapons of mass destruction.
Yellowcake—An intermediate step in the processing of uranium ore. Yellowcake may be enriched to produce uranium suitable for use in weapons and reactors.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Because of time, space, and security concerns, I cannot fully describe to readers of this book the terrific men and women with whom I was privileged to serve. Any successes we had during my time in office were the result of their fine work. Let me take this opportunity, however, to express my admiration and thanks to all of those who have served at the Central Intelligence Agency, and throughout the intelligence community.
While I cannot list by name all those who richly deserve my thanks and those of the American public, a few individuals and categories of people need to be singled out.
First, I was blessed to be surrounded by a superb senior management team at CIA, most notably my terrific deputy, John McLaughlin, and his predecessor, John Gordon. Dave Carey, Gina Genton, Buzzy Krongard, John Brennan, and Marty Petersen all carried on the day-to-day management of CIA, and the implementation of strategic plans, that not only restored agency morale but also laid a solid foundation for the future.
They were aided by superb leaders of our Directorates of Operations, Intelligence, and Science and Technology as well as our support officers whose contributions are always inadequately recognized, even in books written by their most fervent admirers like me.
I am also grateful to those people who provided especially close support to me, like my chiefs of staff and good friends John Moseman, John Brennan, and John Nelson; my tireless and terrific special assistants and PDB briefers; and my office administrative team led by Dottie Hanson and her unflappable sidekick, Mary Elfmann.
A special note of thanks to the men and women of the DCI security staff. They kept my family safe and made enormous personal sacrifices to ensure that my day was as smooth as possible. They were superbly led by Dan O’Connor, Mike Hohlfelder, and Tim Ward. I am grateful to speechwriters Lynn Davidson and Paul Gimigliano, who helped me communicate with clarity and honest emotion, not only to the public but also to the men and women of the CIA around the world. I also want to thank CIA’s protocol staff, ably led by Sheila Siebert, which brought together Agency officers and visitors on countless occasions of both sadness and joy.
Don Cryer made CIA’s vision for diversity a reality. Through his care and leadership, everyone at CIA knew that they would be valued and respected.
What makes CIA special is the sense of family that exists there. The Family Advisory Board did so much for our families.
I always had a special place in my heart for the men and women who served the Agency overseas.
My office was located at CIA’s headquarters, but my responsibility and attention were spread across the broader intelligence community. My pride in the community and what they accomplished is deep. Few understand the strength of this community, or its unity of purpose. Standing together, American intelligence confers an enormous advantage to the United States. I thank Ken Minihan, Mike Hayden, Jack Dantone, Jim Clapper, Jim King, Pat Hughes, Tom Wilson, Jake Jacoby, Keith Hall, Peter Teets, Louis Freeh, and Bob Mueller for being great leaders and friends.
Joan Dempsey, Larry Kindsvater, Charlie Allen, John Gannon, Bob Hutchings, Mark Lowenthal, and Jim Simon were the workhorses who helped draw the community closer together. Their work was critical in maximizing the effectiveness of American intelligence.
As capable as the men and women of the U.S. intelligence community are, we would not have been able to achieve anything during my seven years as DCI without the help of some extraordinary friends and colleagues overseas. These friends are too numerous to name, and many, in fact, would prefer to remain anonymous—but they know they have my great thanks.
There are also countless people deserving specific thanks for their assistance in the production of this book. In writing At the Center of the Storm I interviewed scores of people who served with me at CIA. After all, this is their story as much as mine. I believed it was important to rely not just on my memory of events, but also on the views and observations of those who rode out the storm with me. The people who provided substantive insights to me (volunteers all) included many currently serving as well as former officials. Those still on the Agency payroll must go unnamed here, but they know they have my deep respect and thanks.
Other former officials, from inside and outside the intelligence community, who deserve my special thanks for their contributions to the book include (in alphabetical order) David Boren, Cofer Black, John Brennan, John “Soup” Campbell, Dave Carey, Hank Crumpton, Sir Richard Dearlove, Charles Duelfer, Louis Freeh, Tom Glakas, Bob Grenier, Dottie Hanson, Scott Hopkins, Martin Indyk, Buzzy Krongard, Anthony Lake, Jim L. (aka “Mad Dog”), Ken Levit, John McLaughlin, Regis Matlak, Jami Miscik, the late Stan Moskowitz, John Moseman, Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Phil Mudd, Emile Nakhleh, Geoff O’Connell, Dan O’Connor, Marty Petersen, Rob Richer, Dennis Ross, Rudy Rousseau, Charlie Seidel, Winston Wiley, and Kristin Wood.
This book relies on more than just people’s memories. Under Executive Order 13292, former presidential appointees are permitted to have access to classified documents from their period of service in order to conduct historical research. I relied on this privilege heavily and requested access to literally tens of thousands of pages of documents. These primary resources were of immense assistance to me in trying to make At the Center of the Storm as accurate as possible. My requests for the retrieval of these documents created considerable extra work for the already heavily burdened people in the CIA’s Information Management Office. I’d particularly like to thank Cindy Ferrari and her staff for their cheerful efforts to fulfill my many requests.
The CIA’s Center for the Study of Intelligence was also quite helpful in identifying other documents and past research that helped inform my work. My thanks, particularly, go to David Robarge and Nick Dujmovic.
Performing the critical job of ensuring that those things that must remain secret stay so while allowing authors the freedom of expression, the CIA’s Publication Review Board did its job well. I’d like to thank its director, Richard Puhl; his deputy, Jane Fraser; and their staff for their careful consideration of my submission.
Among the others who deserve special recognition are my students and graduate assistants at Georgetown University. Their questions during class have greatly helped me think through the issues I deal with in this book.
Arnold Punaro of SAIC graciously provided me with a secure workspace to review and work with classified material. I am grateful for his generous support.
I’d like to thank Jane Friedman and Jonathan Burnham of HarperCollins for believing in this project from the very beginning, and for assigning Kathy Huck and David Hirshey as editors—each displayed skill and patience in great measure while working with me on the book. Tina Andreadis, HarperCollins’s director of publicity, has been a terrific advisor as we planned to bring At the Center of the Storm to the attention of the reading public. Bob Barnett of the Williams & Connolly law firm helped guide me through the legal shoals to bring this project to completion. There is no one more skillful than he to do so. I’d also like to thank Howard Means for his literary guidance and assistance in conceptualizing the structure on this project.
And a special note of gratitude goes to the copy editor, Jenna Dolan, who dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s brilliantly; and to the cover photographer, Deborah Feingold.
Perhaps my best decision in pursuing this effort was in bringing Drosten Fisher on board to help me. One of my original graduate assistants at Georgetown University, Drosten is a remarkable young man with boundless energy and a wealth of insights. Much more than a research assistant, he became a true partner in this project—not to mention a virtual hostage and member of my family.
I owe my collaborator on this project, Bill Harlow, an enormous debt of gratitude. Quite simply, I could not have written this book without him. Bill and I journeyed through the storm’s center for seven years. He was by my side through the most difficult and trying times, so when I decided to write about my years at CIA he was the natural choice to help. More than anyone, Bill Harlow understands the secret world in which we operated. He combines a veteran intelligence professional’s understanding of our business with a novelist’s flair. Throughout this project, his patience and good humor kept us going and made sure we finished. I am proud to call him a friend for life.
The members of my family have always been the most important people in my life. I have spoken only briefly in the book about my parents, John and Evangelia Tenet, but they are the two greatest people I have ever known. While my dad has been gone for nearly twenty-four years, not a day goes by when I don’t think of him. My brother Bill, who is more than my twin but also my alter ego; his wife, Alice; and their three wonderful daughters, Amy, Megan, and Joanna, lived vicariously through this tumultuous time with me.
I was lucky to marry into a wonderful family. Stephanie’s beloved parents, John and Cleo Glakas, cared for me for nearly twenty-five years. Mom Glakas was thrilled to have someone else in the family who was a real Greek. John Glakas was the rock of Gibraltar. My two brothers-in-law, Nicky and Tommy, along with their wives, Katy and Maria Rosa, and their children, Gavin, Christian, Cristina, and Alexandra, were a source of love and support throughout it all.
My son, John Michael, is the best son a dad can have. He will always be my pride and joy. My wife, Stephanie, is simply remarkable. Her devotion to the men and women of CIA and to their families made me a better Director. Her love for more than twenty-five years sustained me. She is my greatest treasure.
SEARCHABLE TERMS
A., Frank
Aardwolf reports
ABC News
Abdel-Rahman, Omar
Abdullah, Abu
Abdullah, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
Tenet’s meeting with
Abdullah, King of Jordan
war on al-Qa’ida proposed by
Abizaid, John
Abu Dhabi
Abu Nidal
Aden, Yemen
Adl, Sayf al
Afghanistan
al-Qa’ida driven out of
CIA paramilitary teams in
intelligence gathered in
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in
Nangarhar province of
narco-traffickers in
Oruzgan province in
Pakistan border of
Panjshir Valley in
as sanctuary for terrorists
Shaikot Valley in
Shomali Plains in
Soviets in
terrorist camps in
Tora Bora Mountains in
tribal warlords in
UBL relocation to
U.S. airstrikes in
U.S. war plans against
UTN in
Afghan War
Africans, in Afghanistan
African uranium affair
Britain and
Bush administration and
Cheney and
CIA and
DIA and
GWB’s Cincinnati speech and
Hadley and
NSC and
Rice and
Saddam and
State Department and
Tenet and
2003 State of the Union speech and
Ahmad, Rauf
Ahmed, Mahmood
Mullah Omar’s meeting with
Aideed, Mohammed Farrah
Airbridge Denial Program
Air Force, U.S.
Ala, Abu
al Aqsa mosque
al-Asaaf (Iraqi defector)
Albania
Albright, Madeleine
Alec Station
Algeria
Canadian terrorist cell from
Al Jazeera
Allah, Abu
Allawi, Iyad
Allen, Charles
Allen, Herbert
al-Qa’ida
anthrax program of
attempted smuggling of Sagger missiles by
attempts to assassinate Musharraf by
biological weapons program of
Chechen links with
CIA operations against
Clarke’s memo on
East African embassy bombings and
Egyptian Islamic Jihad link to
as exploiter of jihads
fears of pos
Hussein and
infrastructure of
intelligence on
in Iran
Iraq and
kidnapping threats of
King Abdullah’s proposed war on
London bombing by
Madrid bombing by
Musharraf in fight against
new caliphate desired by
as Northern Alliance POWs
NSA surveillance of
operatives of captured by Pakistanis
origins of
in Pakistan
passports forged for
in postwar Iraq
potential U.S. targets of
as responsible for 9/11 attacks
Riyadh attack of
Russian organized crime and
safe houses of
Saudi Arabian nuclear purchase attempted by
Saudi assassination plot of
Saudi operatives of captured or killed
sources of funding for
Sudanese uranium purchase attempted by
Taliban protection of
technological penetration of
Tenet’s war memo on
terror plans of
“The Plan” and
threats by
training by
U.S. airstrikes on
U.S. operatives of
USS Cole attack of
U.S. war plans against
UTN and
WMD desired by
see also September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks of
al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory
Amadullah, Kari
American Airlines
Flight 77 of
American Prometheus (Bird and Sherwin)
Ames, Aldrich
Amman, Jordan
Ani, Ahmad Khalil al
Ankara
Ansar al-Islam (AI)
anthrax vials
Apple, R. W. “Johnny”
Arabists
Arafat, Yasser
and Church of the Nativity standoff
death of
dislike of Kuwaitis of
Dolphinarium disco bombing and
headquarters of
as hero
trust with
U.S. relations with
At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA Page 54