Remember -- at the time 9/11 happened, George Bush had been President of the United States for less than 8 months -- George Tenet had been CIA director for over 4 years, having been appointed by Bill Clinton.

The former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, George J. Tenet, recognized the danger posed by Al Qaeda well before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but failed to adequately prepare the C.I.A. to meet the threat, according to an internal agency report that was released in summary form today.

Mr. Tenet was sometimes too occupied with tactics instead of strategy, and he was lax in promoting an information-sharing environment within the C.I.A., the inspector general’s office of the agency says in a report released today.

An inspector general’s team that reviewed the agency’s performance found that C.I.A. officers “from the top down” worked hard against Al Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, before the Sept. 11 attacks.

“They did not always work effectively and cooperatively, however,” the team concluded, in what amounted in part to sharp criticism of Mr. Tenet’s management skills and style.

The smoking in in this report regarding how far back the failure goes?

The head of the C.I.A. was once in charge of all federal intelligence agencies. That was the case during Mr. Tenet’s tenure, and the report noted that he said as far back as 1998 that “we are at war” with Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

However, the document went on, Mr. Tenet and his top aides failed to create “a documented, comprehensive plan to guide the counterterrorism effort at the intelligence community level.” One meeting “soon devolved into one of tactical and operation, rather than strategic, discussions,” the report said.

It concluded that Mr. Tenet “did not use all of his authorities” in leading a strategic effort against Osama bin Laden, and that “the management approach” within the C.I.A.’s counterterrorism center “had the effect of actively reinforcing the separation of responsibilities” among key units.

When did Tenet finally get a strategic planning system together to deal with counter-terrorism? Less than two months before 9/11, at the specific orders of George W. Bush and Condolezza Rice. Prior to that, Tenet had taken no significant steps in that direction.

So it seems pretty clear where the failure occurred -- not under President Bush, but under President Clinton. Given the failure of leadership and vision that dated back at least three years before Bush became president, there can be only one conclusion.

There is an interesting debate on the blogosphere right now about how much we should be pointing fingers at the Clinton Administration for these clear failures to protect the US. Captain Ed says that it is "not healthy" to do so, but Lifelike Pundits points out that this report demonstrates the Bill Clinton and Madeline Albright lied to the American people when they claim that they left a detailed plan for the Bush Administration. I tend to agree with the latter's approach, since the front-runner status of Senator Hillary Clinton to be the Democrat presidential candidate means we could be facing the return of the same Clintonoids who failed to protect America and then lied about it following 9/11.

Over at the Sundries Shack, we get this very important quote from the report.

The CIA’s analysis of al-Qaida before Sept. 2001 was lacking. No comprehensive report focusing on bin Laden was written after 1993, and no comprehensive report laying out the threats of 2001 was assembled. “A number of important issues were covered insufficiently or not at all,” the report found.

Can we really afford to return to the failed policies that left us unprotected from terrorism even as it mouthed platitudes about seriousness of purpose in combating it?

UPDATE -- 8/23/2007: More today from Captain Ed.

I've written before that pursuing partisan blame for 9/11 is a waste of time. It gets in the way of determining where failures occurred and developing the proper approaches to avoid them in the future. The truth is that the issues that created these failures stretched back for years, probably decades in terms of interpretation of intelligence law.

However, it gets difficult to remember that when former presidents essentially lie about their roles on national television. Given Clinton's unique history, this prevarication and self-aggrandizement comes as no surprise, but it is still pretty disappointing. It leaves the historical record muddied, right up to the point when independent investigations reveal the truth. Worse, his shouted fabrications contribute to the partisan atmosphere.

One has to sympathize with CIA officials who had read the classified report in 2005, but were unable to respond to his exaggeration in 2006. He once gave the same kind of finger-waggling tirade to the nation, which turned out as false as his Wallace interview. It's a sad reflection on a man who somehow cannot bring himself to tell the truth, even when his nation needs it.

And again, I disagree to the extent that Clinton's wife is now seeking to the presidency. To the degree that Clinton's failures and lies led to 9/11, we must make the record clear -- because Hillary Clinton is running, in part, on Bill Clinton's record and with him as a top adviser.

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