NEWSWEEK: 9-11 Commission Staff Has Concluded Attacks Were Preventable, Lapses By CIA Primarily Responsible, Say Sources

Sunday June 27, 10:51 am ET

'I Can Tell You There Will Be a New DCI [Director of Central Intelligence] This Year,' Says White House Official

NEW YORK, June 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Sources tell Newsweek that the 9-11 Commission staff has concluded that the terror attacks were probably preventable-and that lapses by the CIA are primarily responsible. A report due out next month from the Senate intelligence committee is also expected to castigate the CIA over several pre-war mistakes, report Senior Editor Michael Hirsh and Investigative Correspondents Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball in the magazine's July 5 issue (on newsstands Monday, June 28).

Heading into an election that will likely hinge on national-security issues, the White House says that no decision on former CIA Director George Tenet's successor has been made, and that the president is still considering at least two candidates, reports Newsweek. But Bush officials have clearly changed their minds about leaving Deputy Director John McLaughlin, who is set to take over next month, in place throughout the election. "I can tell you there will be a new DCI [director of Central Intelligence] this year," one official tells Newsweek. Bush, says one White House official, wants to be able to refer "the reform issue" to someone new "as the reports come" in. The administration also wants "to have someone up there making sure things are being done" should a terrorist attack occur before Nov. 2, he says.
Some White House officials have suggested that the popular House intelligence committee chairman Porter J. Goss would be easily confirmed as Tenet's successor. Many of his Hill colleagues think he's campaigning hard for the job, but some Goss critics, even in the GOP, see him as another believer in the notion that intel problems can be solved by throwing money and personnel at them. One says that if Bush nominates Goss, "then I want Tenet back." The Senate intelligence committee's top Democrat, Jay Rockefeller, also issues a warning: "The selection of a politician -- any politician, from either party -- would be a mistake."