C.I.A. Director George J. Tenet Contradicts Vice President Cheney on Iraq and Al-Qaeda Connection

C.I.A. Director George J. Tenet told Congress that the agency is increasingly skeptical of the assertion that a Sept. 11 hijacker, Mohamed Atta, met an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in April 2001. This assessment differs significantly from Vice President Dick Cheney's claims that such a meeting might have taken place. In a letter to Congress, dated July 1, Mr. Tenet stated that Mr. Atta would have been unlikely to contact any Iraqi official at that time, as the Sept. 11 plot was already well underway. This statement contradicts Vice President Cheney's claims of a possible connection between Iraq and Al-Qaeda.

Key Takeaways:

• The C.I.A. is increasingly skeptical of the assertion that Mohamed Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence officer in Prague in April 2001.
• The agency has long expressed skepticism about the idea that Iraq and Al-Qaeda cooperated to carry out the Sept. 11 attacks.
• Vice President Cheney has been the most vigorous proponent of the theory that Iraq and Al-Qaeda had a cooperative relationship before the Sept. 11 attacks.
• The C.I.A. has corrected publicly stated intelligence by Vice President Cheney on multiple occasions, including a claim about trailers found in Iraq being biological weapons factories.
• The Sept. 11 commission's staff report concluded that there was no evidence of a cooperative relationship between Iraq and Al-Qaeda.
• Senator Levin stated that the C.I.A. statement "demonstrates that it was the administration, not the C.I.A, that exaggerated the relations between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda."
• The Senate Intelligence Committee's report on pre-war intelligence will include sharp criticism of the C.I.A. but will sidestep the question of how the Bush administration used that intelligence to make the case for war.

Statistics:

• Seven years have passed since C.I.A. Director George J. Tenet took over as director of central intelligence.
• Since the Sept. 11 attacks, the C.I.A. has made progress in winnowing the ranks of Al-Qaeda's senior leadership.
• 51 is the age of C.I.A. Director George J. Tenet.
• The C.I.A. agency has been facing more criticism than at any time in nearly three decades.

Sources:

• " George Tenet, C.I.A. Chief, Resigns, Citing Personal Reasons", The New York Times, August 26, 2004
• "C.I.A. Chief Testifies Before Congress, Highlighting Feud with Cheney", The New York Times, March 9, 2004
• "Iraq's Trailers, Cheney's Claims, and the C.I.A.", The New York Times, January 22, 2004
• "Sept. 11 Commission Report", September 11 Commission, July 22, 2004
• "Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Prewar Intelligence", Senate Intelligence Committee, June 2004