CIA head of 9-11 investigation resigns!

New blow for September 11 inquiry

Matthew Engel in Washington
Wednesday May 1, 2002
The Guardian

The US Congress's hopes of discovering why American intelligence failed to get a hint of plans for September 11 dwindled further yesterday with news of the resignation of the former CIA man who was heading its investigation.
Britt Snider left after two months amid strong signs that he had been forced out. The investigation is being conducted jointly by the intelligence committees of the Senate and House of Representatives.

The immediate issue seems to have been a personnel matter, but there were growing complaints among some committee members that Mr Snider was too close to his old colleagues and preparing for a whitewash. However, his departure is thought likely to add to tensions on the committee and force the postponement of hearings on the issue.

Mr Snider's former boss, George Tenet, is now a presidential favourite and seems to be fireproof. But some important congressional figures, including the senior Republican senator on the committee, Richard Shelby, are deeply critical of Mr Tenet and the agency in general for a catalogue of apparent failures, dating back to the first World Trade Centre bombing in 1993.

Senator Shelby said: "A thorough and unbiased investigation will reveal that the intelligence community is encumbered by ossified and entrenched bureaucracies, which inhibit its ability to confront current and emerging threats."

Mr Snider's departure coincided with the release of a speech by the FBI director, Robert Mueller, made two weeks ago, in which he admitted that his agency has found almost nothing that gives a hint about the planning of the hijacks.

"In our investigation, we have not uncovered a single piece of paper - either here in the United States or in the treasure trove of information that has turned up in Afghanistan and elsewhere - that mentioned any aspect of the September 11 plot," he said.

There is also growing frustration in Washington about the inability of interrogators to extract information from detainees, including those held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

William Webster, a former director of both the CIA and FBI, has called for detainees to be injected with a so-called truth serum.