By: George Tenet
A no-holds-barred chronicle and inside story of the war on terror by the former CIA director. In the whirlwind of accusations and recriminations that emerged in the wake of 9/11 and the Iraq war, one man's vital testimony has been conspicuously absent. Candid and gripping, 'At the Centre of the Storm' is George Tenet's time at the Central Intelligence Agency, a revelatory look at the inner workings of the most important intelligence organization in the world during the most challenging times in recent history.
With unparalleled access to both the highest echelons of government and raw intelligence from the field, Tenet illuminates CIA's painstaking attempts to prepare the country against new and deadly threats, disentangling the interlocking events that led to 9/11, and offering explosive new information on the deliberations and strategies that culminated in the US invasion of Iraq. Beginning with his appointment as Director of Central Intelligence in 1997, Tenet unfolds the events that led to 9/11 as he experienced them including his declaration of war on al Qa'ida; the worldwide operational plan to fight terrorists; and the plan for a coordinated and devastating counterattack against al Qa'ida laid down just six days after the attacks. He then turns to the war in Iraq as he provides dramatic insight and background on the run-up to the invasion, including the CIA's critical role in an administration predisposed to take the country to war.
In doing so, he sets the record straight about CIA operations and shows readers that the truth is more complex than suggested in other versions of recent history offered thus far. Through it all, Tenet paints an unflinching self-portrait of a man caught between the warring forces of the administration's decision-making process and his own conscience. Drawing on his experience within the wilderness of mirrors of intelligence collection and analysis and providing crucial information previously undisclosed, 'At the Centre of the Storm' is a moving and revelatory profile of both a man and a nation in times of crisis.