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At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA (精装)
by George Tenet
| Category:
Iraq war, American politics, Memoir |
| Market price: ¥ 308.00
MSL price:
¥ 288.00
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| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
This book in itself is at the center of the storm - A true behind the scenes look of America's failed intelligence efforts leading up to and during the war in Iraq. |
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AllReviews |
1 Total 1 pages 8 items |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-18 00:00>
It does not take a very careful read of this book to infer that George Tenet loved his job as Director of CIA. He also, apparently, holds the men and women who work at CIA in very high regard. During his seven year tenure at CIA he unquestionably improved the morale of the CIA workforce. Unfortunately reading this book one also has to infer that he was not a very good director of that agency. Although he dealt with intelligence issues during his years as a congressional and National Security Council (NSC) staffer, he really had no experience in the actual processes involved in the collection of data and the production of intelligence. Further he had no management experience and never had to learn how to transform decisions into actions or ensure that subordinates did so. However, if one reads between the lines of this book one can see that what really did Tenet in as Director was that he was extremely ill-served by CIA's senior management.
For example there is the on going issue of the al Qaeda movement and Usama bin Ladin or Osama bin Laden. In the wake of the al Qaeda inspired attacks against the U.S. Embassies in East Africa, Tenet tells the reader he was frustrated with the "quality and depth of our intelligence regarding al Qaeda and Bin (sic) Ladin." Apparently as a result of this frustration, the Counter Terrorism Center (CTC) of CIA developed a so-called `operational plan' and the redoubtable CIA veteran Charlie Allen pushed the rest of the Intelligence Community, namely NSA and the NGA, to step up their collection and processing efforts to support that plan. Tenet was told that as a result the amount of data on al Qaeda and bin Ladin had `exploded' and many terrorists were identified and their linkages to other terrorists were documented. According to the head of the CTC of the plan had "damaged UBL's (sic) infrastructure and created doubt within al Qaeda...", although it is difficult to determine how he knew this. This of course was all prior to the events of 9/11. In point of fact, the result of all this effort was what one would get by kicking an ant hill and little substantive intelligence resulted from all the uproar. Indeed by 2004 CIA apparently was still uncertain if the al Qaeda movement should be treated as a transnational or geographic issue. After 9/11, the response by CIA to the Bush administration's interest in finding ties between al Qaeda and pre-invasion Iraq was a masterpiece of bureaucratic opaqueness. President Bush and Director Tenet both deserved better. The problem is that as Tenet stated in another context, "We are all prisoners of history" this could be the epitaph of his directorship and perhaps CIA itself. |
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Mark (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-18 00:00>
For those in the mainstream media and elsewhere who continue to insist that there is and was no reason to suggest Saddam Hussein had no links to al Qaeda this book is going to be a dissapointment.
There is an entire chapter detailing Tenet's battles with Feith, Cheney and company over how strong the links were but Tenet reveals that Zarqawi was in Iraq in 2002 (after a decade of meetings between Saddam's regime and al Qaeda leaders), as were hundreds of al Qaeda members. Zarqawi and associates of Ayman al Zawahiri were shipping weapons from Baghdad to their camp in Northern Iraq, surely with at least the knowledge of Hussein's regime, according to Tenet.
It's important to keep in mind that quite a bit of classified material was undoubtedly removed from the book on both this issue and the WMD issue but the book certainly dispells the notion that the links between were made from whole cloth by the Bush administration. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-18 00:00>
While it's true that there is definitely a self-serving aspect to this competently-written book, Mr. Tenet's memoirs are important for two reasons. One: although much of what's in the book has been discussed elsewhere, it gives confirmation to what was previously only (for the most part) speculation. Second, it forces the Bush administration to take responsibility for the whys and wherefores regarding the Iraq War and September 11, even as it strips their usual talking points of any validity; no more "It was bad intelligence", no more "No one knew could have foreseen 9/11 happening", no more "We have to fight the terrorists in Iraq, if we're to be safe at home".
If there is one good thing that has come out of the neo-con's soon-to-be-ending reign in this country, it's that after all the deception, manipulation, corruption and incompetence, the reputation of the right-wing (including phony, self-styled, so-called "independents" like Bill O'Reilly) will be shot for decades to come. To quote GWB: "Mission Accomplished!" |
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Ellerbe (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-18 00:00>
This book is insightful, profound and rings with truth. I feel that George Tenet's coming out with this book "late", as he is accused of doing, has made for a more timely impact, in that worldwide opinion and disappointment are more congealed. Thus, there is actually more acceptance after the facts have come together than in the early stage of discovery amid confusion and simple trust in the Administration.
Tenet has morphed into a seasoned expert on the compilation of data from all sources. Many readers will be enlightened by heretofore unknown data presented in this profound book. |
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-18 00:00>
If one was looking for Mr. Tenet to really expose the behind the scenes rancor, you will only get a tease. Mr. Tenent remains loyal to our bumbling, stumbling, President, and in many ways lets this want to be great, off the hook. No stake to the heart. On the other hand those who handle this "Pretender" in the White House have more than enough rocks thrown at them. Not to mention the acid reaction over the Valerie Plame outing, Niger, and more.
For certain the war over Iraq, and the war in Iraq receive the greater brightness of attention as well it should. The Gung Ho attitude, and the lack of attention to post invasion reactions. The constant attempts to make the non existant connection between 9/11, and Iraq, weapons of mass destruction and the like. Our present security and the lack thereof. The fact Ms. Rice acted as if she was not home leading up to 9/11, and continued "I do not get it" preceptions to this very day. The bulldog vice "Pretender" who has no clue as to the truth about any of this mess. America cannot clean house soon enough, and we wave ado to the whole lot. Our young men and women in the Military dying as heros, but ill used by this gang of "Nincompoops," who seem unable to think their way out of a wet paper bag. The lack of focus in Afganistan, when we had the bulk of the terrorist leadership in our sights, and failed to give the proper orders to pull the trigger.
There is enough blame to go around. Both in and out of the CIA, but for sure someone has to stand for what is right and best, for our future security. Tapping the phones of the innocent, reading just everyone's e-mail is not enough to make the proper changes to secure our nation. There is no security for any of us if one takes that which is most dear, our rights, in the name of security. Akin to throwing the baby out with the bath water.
Get the book, critique the changes for yourself. Our ports, borders, nuke plants, chemical plants and the like. Your preceptions of this and more wil certainly change. |
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Einhaus (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-18 00:00>
Excellent CIA library addition, detailed with names, dates and chronologies, yet is easy to read. Another look inside the Bush Administration. Be prepared to read it all the way through once you start, it's hard to put down. |
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Lee (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-18 00:00>
In what is probably the best Washington insider book of recent years, George Tenet documents the intelligence and policy screw-ups leading up to 9/11 and the invasion of iraq. The story has been told by others, but Tenet tells it especially well, spreading the blame widely for these awful fiascos, but accepting some himself.
The book is inadvertently revealing about the Tenet CIA's priorities and shortcomings. For instance, little mention is made of Russia and China and of the multiple challenges that these countries' emergent economic and military strength poses to U, S global leadership. Tenet stresses that CIA recruitment was expanded and democratized during his tenure, but intelligncee is not a numbers game - CIA doesn't need more analysts and spies as much as it needs smarter ones. The CIA and the intelligence community generally are consumed with short- range problems and success targets, while sometimes missing the bigger picture. On this latter point, Tenet portrays Afghanistan as a CIA success story, but modern-day Afghanisttan is a catastrophe in the making - comprising a patchwork of narco-principalities, a resurgent narco-funded Taliban and a government that can't exercise its writ much beyond Kabul. Of course, Tenet's CIA was a product of the times - an obsessive national focus on terrorism - but the Agency needs now to recalibrate its priorities and move on. |
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Welton (MSL quote), USA
<2007-06-18 00:00>
At the Center of the Storm is clearly written, filled with enough detail, and is suffieniently insightful to hold one's interest from cover to cover. Tenet does not whine, and, in my opinion, offers a successful defense of his tenure at CIA. If the reader expects a diatribe against the president and the neocons, she will be disappointed. |
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1 Total 1 pages 8 items |
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