CIA Report Slams Tenet

Ed Morrissey writes:

Is it fair to paint this report as evidence that the fault for our unpreparedness belongs to the Clinton administration? I’d say that it’s not healthy to think along these lines. It’s better to leave the partisan sniping aside and have everyone learn the lessons than it is to turn this to partisan advantage. Tenet ran the CIA, and he’s responsible for its performance. Bill Clinton appointed him, and George Bush kept him on the job.

I would say that it’s fair to point out that passages such as “No comprehensive report focusing on bin Laden was written after 1993,” and “no comprehensive report laying out the threats of 2001 was assembled” put lie to the assertions by Clinton-era national-security officials that they handed the Bush administration a turn-key strategy to deal with al-Qaeda. The IG’s report clearly shows that no such strategy existed — which is why Bush insisted on developing one.

Once the primaries are over and Hillary begins to shift her rhetoric closer to the center, it will be interesting to observe the tightrope she’ll be forced to walk in regards to describing her husband’s handling of this issue, as she pivots towards 2008.