George Tenet Quotes

• The only people that ever stand up and tell the truth are who? Intelligence officers. Because our culture is, never break faith with the truth. We'll tell you, you don't have to drag it out of us.

  George Tenet

  People, Culture, Telling The Truth

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• You know, at the end of the day, the only thing you have is trust and honor in this world. That's all you have. All you have is your reputation built on trust and your personal honor. When you don't have that any more, well you know, there you go. Trust was broken.

  George Tenet

  Broken, Honor, The End Of The Day

  "American Morning" with John Roberts, edition.cnn.com. April 27, 2007.

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• Never break faith with the truth.

  George Tenet

  Break

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• Foreign nations have begun to include information warfare in their war college curricula with respect to both defensive and offensive applications.

  George Tenet

  War, College, Information

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• It's a slam-dunk case!

  George Tenet

  Stupid, Iraq, Slam

  Quoted in Bob Woodward, Plan of Attack (2004). Tenet's response to President George W. Bush when the latter asked him, during a White House meeting, 21 Dec. 2002, about the evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

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• By definition, intelligence deals with the unclear, the unknown, the deliberately hidden. What the enemies of the United States hope to deny we work to reveal.

  George Tenet

  Enemy, United States, Definitions

  Remarks at Georgetown University, 5 February 2004.

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• One mushroom cloud would change history. My deepest fear is that this is exactly what they [Al Qaeda] intend.

  George Tenet

  Clouds, Mushrooms, Als

  "At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA". Book by George Tenet and Bill Harlow (Chapter "They Want to Change History"), www.nbcnews.com. April 30, 2007.

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• You deserve better from your entire government, all of us.

  George Tenet

  Government, Deserve Better, Deserve

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• Here's the teaching point, if you're teaching kids about intelligence and policy: Intelligence does not absolve policymakers of responsibility to ask tough questions, and it doesn't absolve them of having curiosity about the consequences of their actions.

  George Tenet

  Teaching, Kids, Responsibility

  TIME Interview, content.time.com. April 29, 2007.

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• We could never verify that there was any Iraqi authority, direction and control, complicity with al Qaeda for 9/11 or any operational act against America. Period.

  George Tenet

  America, Als, Authority

  "George Tenet: At the center of the storm". "60 Minutes" with Scott Pelley, www.cbsnews.com. April 25, 2007.

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• To understand a difficult topic like Iraq takes patience and care. Unfortunately, you rarely hear a patient, careful or thoughtful discussion of intelligence these days.

  George Tenet

  Patience, Thoughtful, Iraq

  Speech of CIA Director George Tenet at Georgetown University, www.americanprogress.org. February 5, 2004.

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• As a nation we have, over the past seven years, been rebuilding our intelligence with powerful capabilities that many thought we would no longer need after the Cold War. We have been rebuilding our clandestine service, our satellite and other technical collection, our analytical depth and expertise.

  George Tenet

  Powerful, War, Past

  Director of Central Intelligence Remarks on Iraq's WMD Programs, www.cia.gov. February 5, 2004.

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• I'm Greek, and we're conspiratorial by nature.

  George Tenet

  Greek

  "Scarborough Country" with Joe Scarborough, www.nbcnews.com. April 30, 2007.

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• Iraq... has also had contacts with al-Qaida. Their ties may be limited by divergent ideologies, but the two sides' mutual antipathy toward the United States and the Saudi royal family suggests that tactical cooperation between them is possible.

  George Tenet

  Two Sides, Iraq, Ties

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• When I came to the CIA in the mid-'90s, our graduating class of case officers was unbelievably low. Now, after years of rebuilding, our training programs and putting our best efforts to recruit the most talented men and women, we are graduating more clandestine officers than at any time in the history of the Central Intelligence Agency.

  George Tenet

  Men, Agency, Years

  Speech of CIA Director George Tenet, www.americanprogress.org. February 5, 2004.

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• I am convinced the next major attack against the United States may well be conducted by people with Asian or African faces, not the ones that many Americans are alert to.

  George Tenet

  People, United States, Asian

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