Lasheona Starr Dingle
November 10, 2012
PAD 500: Modern Public Administration
Professor Timothy Smith
On July 11, 1997 at the age of 44, George Tenet was sworn into the CIA as the Director of Central Intelligence, better known as the DCI. (Stillman, 2010). Although he had no previous military experience, managed any large organizations, or shaped American foreign policy. (Stillman, 2010). Tenet was Director of Central Intelligence during William (Bill) J. Clinton’s and the majority of George W. Bush’s administration. Tenet wanted to build the reputation of the CIA, which had declined since the Cold War. He also wanted to improve the morale and gain additional funding for better technology within the CIA. When George W. Bush came into office, Tenet had built supporters on both sides of the political parties. Tenet had also built support inside the intelligence community, crucially and particularly in the Directorate of Operations [DO] at the CIA. He had won support from everyone including the new President Bush. (Coll, 2006) Although Tenet had the intentions of being a great leader and rebuilding the trust of the American people there were many ethical dilemmas experienced that led to his demise. One of these dilemmas was the violation of national and international human rights. Tenet was also the “go-between” or the “mediator” with Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, which brought about concern within his administration. Tenent was also dishonest not only with his officials but the people of the nation. Tenet knew that information given regarding chemical weapons and Saddam Hussein were false but instead of acknowledging the truth went along with it. Lastly, Tenet’s overall loyalty brought about ethical dilemmas. Tenet went along with stories regarding the Weapons of Mass Destruction, which ultimately led to the war in Iraq killing over 4,000 people. Instead of stating the facts that were given to him by his intelligence officers, when Colin Powell addressed the nation, Tenet replied, "The intelligence community subscribed to all the things that Powell said about ties between Iraq, and Al Qaeda.” (PBS Documentary, 2006). Later, it was brought to the nations attention that there were in fact No Weapons of Mass Destruction. George Tenet addresses the prioritization of ethical concerns in different ways that led to implementation of CIA policies. During his mediation talks with Yasser Arafat and Benjamin Netanyahu, Tenet established that both leaders had ethical concerns of one another, as they did not trust one another (Tenet 2007). This of course brought about concerns but Tenet, while showing impeccable leadership, addressed those concerns by stating there was no better way than by the way he had chose. (Stillman, 2010). Another way Tenet showed prioritizations of ethical concerns was during the Clinton administration. Tenet informed officials of Ossama Bin Laden. Tenet also informed officials that the country was at war and he did not want the country to be at war unprepared. Also, on May 11, 1988 it was discovered that India had began testing a chemical weapons program. In one of his rare truthful moments, Tenet informed Senator Richard Shelby that he was not aware of the Indian governments plan and this prevented the administration from a quick reaction. “In 1989, The U.S. Intelligence armed with unfounded intelligence information had warplanes bomb the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, and Tenet took full responsibility for the wrong intelligence report.” (Stillman, 2010). There were strategies used in competing ethical obligations in relation to the many intergovernmental organizations that overlapped Tenet’s office. Many of these strategies guaranteed that all movements were legal, ethical and within guidelines. Ethic strategies were used to ensure that focus was put on development and that these developments were a part of ongoing ethics training. Another strategy was communication. This communication entails communicating behavioral expectations, training on compliance issues and training expectations, and resolution of already existing situations. The use of this method could enhance compliance while adding to the organizations value and effectiveness (Richard D. White, 2010). The use of the Code of Conduct also ties into the ethical policy. Ethical behavior is expected amongst any individual within a company, especially an individual with authority. The last strategy is that of leadership. A person who is a leader will want to be an example and lead their company and/or organization down the correct path. As mentioned earlier George Tenet’s priorities were to improve employee morale, set a defined mission, to have better execution of intelligence reports and analysis, the reinforcement of units with new recruits, to provide better training, and increased funding (Stillman, 2010). Tenet stated to rebuild and select a more qualified individual to ensure that those priorities were met. He began with the financial aspect, those who assist in the rebuilding of the agency’s spending. He also had retired veterans who were very talented called back from their retirement. Tent, then asked for more funding, but only got a small increase (Stillman, 2010). In conclusion, Tenet should be a lesson learned to all governmental officials, people in authority, or to anyone with direct impact to the public. The mistakes made by Tenet should be not dismissed nor should their be any finger pointing, as the DCI Tenet had a responsibility to be honest, trustworthy, and loyal to his colleagues, officials, and country regardless of the situation. There will definitely be those instances where public administrators will have to make a choice on if they will side for the person in office or if they will truly be there for the people. During todays times as well as in the future I hope that for the sake of this country we do not allow the same mistakes to happen again. Even though Tenet’s goal was to rebuild the morale and the overall outlook that the people have on the CIA, there will always be skepticism because of the role that he, Tenet, played.
I would like to end with a farewell speech that Tenet stated:
“It is not the critic who counts or the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or whether the doer of good deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.' Central Intelligence Agency, the men and women of this agency, were born into the arena, and we are still there.” (Koppel, 2009)
Coll, S. (2006, Jan 12). Frontline The Dark Side. (PBS, Interviewer)
PBS Documentary. (2006, June 20). Frontline Darkside. Retrieved from PBS: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/themes/tenet.html
Richard D. White, J. (2010). George Tenet and the Last Great Days of the CIA" 9e., na: Richard J. Stillman (ed), Public Administration: Concepts & Cases, 9
Stillman, R.J. III (2010). Public administration concepts and cases. New York: Houghton
Tenet, George. 2007. At the Center of the Storm: My Years at the CIA. New York: HarperCollins.
