[Mb-civic] C.I.A. Officer Denounces Agency and Sept. 11 Report

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C.I.A. Officer Denounces Agency and Sept. 11 Report

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/17/politics/17intel.html?ei=1&en=fb1b9366525b1470&ex=1093758799&pagewanted=print&position=

(Excerpt):

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 - A senior officer for the Central Intelligence Agency 
who led the unit that tracked Osama bin Laden has written a blistering 
letter to the Sept. 11 commission, attacking both the C.I.A. and the 
commission itself over what he sees as a failure to punish "bureaucratic 
cowards" in the intelligence agencies.

The officer, Michael F. Scheuer, has written a best-selling book under the 
pseudonym "Anonymous" that is sharply critical of the way the United States 
has pursued its global campaign against terrorism.

In a signed e-mail letter sent to the commission, he lashed out in angry 
and highly personal tones at the failure by the commission and the C.I.A. 
to hold anyone directly accountable for Sept. 11 failures and aimed sharp 
criticism at George J. Tenet, the former director of central intelligence, 
without mentioning his name.

Mr. Scheuer had pushed for more aggressive covert and military action, but 
he says he was rebuffed. In his letter, he pointed with frustration to' 
failed American plans to assassinate Mr. bin Laden, saying that "there is 
much more to the failure to fire cruise missiles at bin Laden" in the late 
1990's than the report suggested. And he said that "you know that on at 
least one occasion the sale of F-16's to an Arab government was considered 
more important than acting to protect American lives."

He did not elaborate on that accusation, but officials said his comments 
appeared to refer to the United States' approval of Lockheed Martin's 
pending sale of 80 fighter jets to the United Arab Emirates.

The Sept. 11 commission found that an American plan in early 1999 to launch 
a missile attack against a hunting camp in Afghanistan, which Mr. bin Laden 
appeared to be using, was postponed because three Emirates officials were 
also at the camp at the time. Policymakers "were concerned about the danger 
that a strike would kill an Emirati prince or other senior officials who 
might be with bin Laden or close by," and Mr. bin Laden moved on after the 
strike was put off, the report said.

...... the C.I.A. has now ordered him to curtail his public commentary 
sharply, and to get advance approval for future statements. A publicist for 
Mr. Scheuer's book said Monday that he could not comment on the letter to 
the commission because of the C.I.A.'s new restrictions.

Mr. Scheuer said in his letter that he found the commission's final report 
"disappointing in the extreme" and that it "seems to deliberately ignore 
those who were clearly culpable of negligence or dereliction" for failing 
to deal adequately with the bin Laden threat. "By finding no one culpable, 
you will allow the mindset that got America to 9/11 to endure and thrive in 
whatever new community structure is established."

 From 1996 to 1999, he led the C.I.A. unit that tracked Osama bin Laden in 
Afghanistan and he continues to serve in a senior counterterrorism post.

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- Where has the sparrow gone now that I need its song.