At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA - Hardcover

George Tenet; Bill Harlow

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061147788 ISBN 13: 9780061147784

Publisher: Harper Collins, 2007

Synopsis

In the whirlwind of accusations and recriminations that emerged in the wake of 9/11 and the Iraq war, one man's vital testimony has been conspicuously absent. Candid and gripping, At the Center of the Storm recounts George Tenet's time at the Central Intelligence Agency, a revealing look at the inner workings of the most important intelligence organization in the world during the most challenging times in recent history. With unparalleled access to both the highest echelons of government and raw intelligence from the field, Tenet illuminates the CIA's painstaking attempts to prepare the country against new and deadly threats, disentangles the interlocking events that led to 9/11, and offers explosive new information on the deliberations and strategies that culminated in the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Beginning with his appointment as Director of Central Intelligence in 1997, Tenet unfolds the momentous events that led to 9/11 as he saw and experienced them: his declaration of war on al-Qa'ida; the CIA's covert operations inside Afghanistan; the worldwide operational plan to fight terrorists; his warnings of imminent attacks against American interests to White House officials in the summer of 2001; and the plan for a coordinated and devastating counterattack against al-Qa'ida laid down just six days after the attacks.

Tenet's compelling narrative then turns to the war in Iraq as he provides dramatic insight and background on the run-up to the invasion, including a firsthand 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; the true context of Tenet's own now-famous "slam dunk" comment regarding Saddam's WMD program; and the CIA's critical role in an administration predisposed to take the country to war. In doing so, he sets the record straight about CIA operations and shows readers that the truth is more complex than suggested in other versions of recent history offered thus far.

Through it all, Tenet paints an unflinching self-portrait of a man caught between the warring forces of the administration's decision-making process, the reams of frightening intelligence pouring in from around the world, and his own conscience. In At the Center of the Storm, George Tenet draws on his unmatched experience within the opaque mirrors of intelligence and provides crucial information previously undisclosed to offer a moving, revelatory profile of both a man and a nation in times of crisis.

About this title

About the Author:

George Tenet was the Director of Central Intelligence from 1997 to 2004. He holds a BSFS from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service and an MIA from the School of International Affairs at Columbia University. He was appointed to the faculty of Georgetown University in 2004 and lives outside Washington, D.C., with his wife, author Stephanie Glakas-Tenet, and their son.

From AudioFile:

With a preface and afterword read by the author, this abridgment of former CIA Director George Tenets memoir offers his perspective on the events that led up to and followed 9/11. Tenet asserts that two months before the attack his office had information there would be a spectacular terrorist attack against the U.S. Why nothing significant was done to prevent it gets garbled in political doublespeak. Eric Conger gives an intelligent reading as Tenet spends an inordinate amount of time denying, then waffling over, his statement that the case against Iraq with respect to weapons of mass destruction was a slam-dunk. Thanks to Congers capable narration, the lack of communication between intelligence agencies is clear and deeply disturbing, and the questions left unanswered about current CIA policies speak volumes. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Collins
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0061147788
• ISBN 13: 9780061147784
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 549