Hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee - Future Worldwide Threats to U.S. National Security

Federal News Service

HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SENATE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE

SUBJECT: FUTURE WORLDWIDE THREATS TO U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY

CHAIRED BY: SENATOR JOHN WARNER (R-VA)

LOCATION: 216 HART SENATE OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C.

WITNESSES: DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE GEORGE TENET; AND DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY DIRECTOR VICE ADMIRAL LOWELL JACOBY

BODY:
SEN. REED: I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Tenet, I want to pick up on a line of questioning the chairman started and Senator Kennedy also amplified about the role, your role as you perceive it. Do you believe that when there's a disagreement among intelligence agencies or analysts, which is often the case, that the administration can pick whatever opinion they think is most convenient? And that you have no public obligation to correct that view?

And this is particularly, I think, interesting in the context of some of the many statements the vice president made. On "Meet the Press" in March of '03: "We believe he has, in fact, reconstituted nuclear weapons." I don't know if that factual conclusion had been reached by any intelligence agency.

"Meet the Press" in '02: "We do know, with absolute certainty, that he is using his procurement system to acquire the equipment he needs in order to enrich uranium to build a nuclear weapon"-with absolute certainty.

What is your role?

MR. TENET: Sir, my role is to report the intelligence, and if I think a senior policymaker has strayed-assuming that I'm listening to everything that everybody says, which I don't do-I'll go in and talk to them about this is what we think; here are the divisions of opinion; here's how this is more correctly stated, and leave it at that. That's my job.

SEN. REED: So-and I presume you watch "Meet the Press."

MR. TENET: Well, I usually don't, sir, but that's --

SEN. REED: Well, Tim Russert is disappointed. But did you correct the vice president's statement privately?

MR. TENET: I don't know that I did in this instance. I don't know that I listened to it or was made aware of it.

SEN. REED: So no one made you aware that the vice president of the United States said that with absolute certainty we know that Iraq is reconstituting its weapons procurement system at least, and then right before military operations said, as a fact, they reconstituted their nuclear weapons? You were not aware of that?

MR. TENET: Our National Intelligence Estimate did say that he is reconstituting his nuclear program.

SEN. REED: As a fact?

MR. TENET: Well, we said that in our key judgments. He's reconstituting -- (inaudible) -- judgment.

SEN. REED: Well, I mean, the opinion of, again, the State Department Bureau of Intelligence and Research in October of '02 was that this was not entirely factually confirmed.

MR. TENET: Well --

SEN. REED: But also, I think, just that week it appears that the IAEA had concluded that this was not-that they had not found any evidence and they apparently were on the ground.

MR. TENET: Sir, our intelligence judgment on the reconstitution question is all agencies except INR believed he was reconstituting his nuclear weapons program. DOE, who did not believe aluminum tubes were being used in this enrichment effort, still believed he was reconstituting his nuclear weapons program, on the basis of his other procurements, the assembly of scientists, other issues that are clearly spelled out in the estimate. So we did take that position in the estimate, "is reconstituting."

SEN. REED: But you indicated that even if you took a contrary, you would not publicly say anything at all.

MR. TENET: Sir, I don't do my job that way.

That's not how I-I don't think a director-I do my job the way I've done it for seven years, and if I think and I'm aware of something that needs to be corrected I go correct that.

SEN. REED: Can I return to the Cheney quote? It was we believe he has, in fact, "reconstituted" nuclear weapons, not a nuclear weapons program. Not a program, but nuclear weapons.

MR. TENET: No one said he had a nuclear weapon.

SEN. REED: Has them.

MR. TENET: I don't --

SEN. REED: Pardon?

MR. TENET: We did not say he had a nuclear weapon. We, in our estimate, said we don't believe he has one.

SEN. REED: Well --

MR. TENET: It would take him five to seven years, and if he had fissile material we think he could get there within several months to a year.

SEN. REED: But this statement says we believe he has, in fact, "reconstituted" nuclear weapons. You were unaware of that statement or you didn't make any attempt to correct that statement?

MR. TENET: Well, sir, I think-I'm told the vice president may have corrected that statement himself. I was not aware at the time, no.

SEN. REED: When did he correct the statement?

MR. TENET: Well, apparently, I'm told he later said he misspoke and he meant to say programs. I don't know that personally.

SEN. REED: Mr. Tenet, again, I am just troubled that-you know, that these statements would be made and that you have no recollection of privately counseling the vice president, and certainly no record publicly of doing it until much after the fact, and it is troubling.

Let me turn to another. Having listened to your presentation about the worldwide threat, it could be, I think, concluded from your remarks that while we are bogged down in Iraq, an agile, decentralized and ruthless enemy plots against us worldwide.

MR. TENET: That we are covering very well and we have good knowledge of because we've maintained a very healthy counterterrorism operation.

SEN. REED: And there is no conflict in terms of resources or personnel because of --

MR. TENET: The conflict, Senator, comes in other parts of the world. As I said previously, Iraq and the worldwide war on terrorism and proliferation are the highest priorities. There are one or two others that I want to talk about in open session. The sacrifice we're making to cover these is occurring in global coverage in other places. But in terms our laser-like focus, we have not taken-diverted anything from the war on terrorism. Naturally, linguistic skill becomes an issue because it's the same Arabists. The pool is limited, but our focus is very important in both those areas.

SEN. REED: So your focus is worldwide, but the thrust of your comments were almost entirely dedicated to the situation in Iraq, the stakes in Iraq. And it seems, again, to me that, you know, you're committing huge resources, you've recognized a worldwide threat --

MR. TENET: Yes.

SEN. REED: -- but you're committing huge resources, both political-in terms of the administration-and also logistical by the agency to an area which does not fully counter this worldwide spread.

MR. TENET: Well, I don't think that's true. I've got an Ansar al-Islam network and a Zarqawi network and foreign jihadists in Iraq that are part of this network. They're part of the war on terrorism, inside Iraq.

SEN. REED: And when did they enter Iraq, Mr. Tenet?

MR. TENET: Well, Mr. Zarqawi was in Iraq well before hostilities --

SEN. REED: And the --

MR. TENET: -- had a couple of dozen EIJ operatives. And the Ansar al-Islam was operating up in Khurmal well before hostilities. So we have, in terms of these two different-his network and that organization, back and forth over borders, operating well before we went into Iraq.

SEN. REED: Well, my time has expired. But it is, I think --