The Orbis

As the 2004 presidential election draws closer, the Bush administration will undoubtedly tout its record in the War on Terror. It will use the absence of a terrorist attack on U.S. soil since Sept. 11. The administration may also use as proof the fact that al Qaeda and similar terrorist groups have been aggressively targeted by America's intelligence agencies.

However, while such an accomplishment is indeed impressive, it masks a deep malaise that is affecting one of America's key weapons in fighting terrorism and rogue states: the Central Intelligence Agency.

George Tenet, the director of the CIA, has ruled over the agency for the second longest term ever, second only to the vaunted Allen Dulles. While one would logically take this to be a sign of an effective and vibrant organization, it is not so in Tenet's case.

Tenet has presided over the CIA through some of the agency's greatest lapses in intelligence gathering and operational actions.

Since 1997, when he was appointed by Clinton, Tenet has failed to steer the CIA toward the threats relevant to today's world. Put bluntly, the Tenet era was one in which CIA was a dirty word and abhorred by many. With this in mind, it is not surprising that Tenet has had a difficult time in manning the helm of the CIA in today's turbulent waters.

Many analysts, commentators and even some government officials identified terrorist and rogue states as the greatest security threat facing America and the free world, but the CIA and the administration (not only Clinton's, but Bush's as well) did not pay any real attention to the warnings and terrorist acts perpetrated throughout the 1990s and earlier.

Rather than taking a proactive stance around the world following the fall of the Soviet Union, the CIA has seemed to shrink in upon itself, closing many intelligence posts abroad and failing to open new posts in potential hotspots. In fact, even though the CIA knew that Osama Bin-Laden was residing in Afghanistan at the time of Sept. 11, there was a grand total of zero agents on the ground in the war-torn country.

Admittedly, one would be hard pressed to place all the blame upon Tenet, as U.S. intelligence agencies usually have their hands tied by the administration in power, whose greatest fear was seeing a bungled intelligence operation on the 6:00 news. After Sept. 11, it was evident that reform is needed within U.S. intelligence agencies, however, Tenet is still frozen in the old mindset and seems hesitant to move the CIA into the new national security direction Bush has outlined.

Rumsfeld has altered the focus and direction of the military (by making a smaller, quicker attack force), however the war on terrorism was fought without change. Just as in the past, Tenet launched cruise missiles at deserted camps in the desert wasting time and money and making the United States look like dolts.

Under Tenet's time at the helm, the CIA has suffered an embarrassing string of failures and mistakes, which not only has compromised the credibility of U.S. intelligence operations, but also has led to the death of American servicemen and women and citizens. For example, Tenet's response to a series of of American embassy bombings in Africa was to tell then-President Clinton that a pharmaceutical factory in Sudan was producing WMD, a claim that has yet to be substantiated.

In October 2000, the CIA did not take any real steps to respond to the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole, and furthered the image of a country impotent when dealing with terrorism. In a more recent example, as former weapons inspector David Kay said, the CIA got it almost "all wrong" when it came to intelligence regarding Iraq's WMD capabilities.

The CIA appears to have relied on shady sources for analyzing Iraq's weapons program as it was not able to penetrate Hussein's inner-circle themselves. This failure has led to a serious crisis in U.S. intelligence credibility. Many foreign governments are now wary of trusting the analysis of the CIA or National Security Agency.

Tenet must be replaced with an individual who is familiar with the emerging threats, rather than someone who has been shown to be inept in utilizing what is arguably the world's most powerful intelligence agency (possibly behind the Mossad and MI6).

The new director should reorient the CIA so that it can take a more active role in keeping America safe rather than being simply a reactionary weapon used after the damage to targets has been done and people have died.

No longer is America's primary enemy the monolithic and predictable Soviet Union. While this has been made abundantly clear since Sept. 11 (and even earlier, if someone could've connected), it seems as though many U.S. officials have not gotten the memo.

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