GreekAmerican
03-15-2007, 05:45 PM
Delayed CIA Memoir Coming Next Month
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 14, 2007
NEW YORK (AP) -- The much-delayed memoir of former CIA director George Tenet (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/george_j_tenet/index.html?inline=nyt-per) is coming out April 30, his publisher said Tuesday.
''It's a confirmed date,'' HarperCollins publicist Kate Pruss told The Associated Press. She declined to say whether the manuscript for ''At the Center of the Storm'' had been cleared by the CIA, a standard procedure for former officials that reportedly had held up publication, but said ''April 30 is the date the book will be in stores.''
Tenet, whose tenure at the CIA was marked by the Iraq war and the Sept. 11 attacks, first planned to write his memoir for the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., that announced an agreement in December 2004. Tenet's representative, attorney Robert Barnett, said at the time that the book would likely come out at the end of 2005 or early in 2006.
But the deal, reportedly for seven figures, soon fell through and Tenet switched to HarperCollins in January 2006, saying he needed ''more time to both do the extensive research and to gain the necessary perspective.''
His memoir was originally scheduled to come out last month.
Tenet, 54, was appointed by President Clinton in 1997 and continued in the Bush administration until stepping down in 2004. Often criticized for intelligence failures on his watch, he is best known for telling President Bush in 2002 that he had ''slam dunk'' evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
Promotional materials from HarperCollins have said that Tenet will give the ''real context'' for his ''slam dunk'' comment. His publisher also says he will describe what drove him to declare war on al-Qaida in 1998 and pull the curtain back on meetings with senior officials in the months leading up to 9/11.
The CIA has had Tenet's entire book since January, and there has been significant discussion about what material can be included, according to an associate familiar with the book who spoke on condition of anonymity while the review process continued.
''The final bits and pieces of it are just being resolved,'' the associate said.
Current and former CIA officials are often frustrated by the arduous reviews. Clearing of material by the agency's Publications Review Board is intended to ensure that current and former officials' speeches and writings contain no classified information.
The CIA has also shared parts of the book with the White House, but none of the as-yet-unresolved classification issues stem from White House concerns, the associate said.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Books-Tenet.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 14, 2007
NEW YORK (AP) -- The much-delayed memoir of former CIA director George Tenet (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/t/george_j_tenet/index.html?inline=nyt-per) is coming out April 30, his publisher said Tuesday.
''It's a confirmed date,'' HarperCollins publicist Kate Pruss told The Associated Press. She declined to say whether the manuscript for ''At the Center of the Storm'' had been cleared by the CIA, a standard procedure for former officials that reportedly had held up publication, but said ''April 30 is the date the book will be in stores.''
Tenet, whose tenure at the CIA was marked by the Iraq war and the Sept. 11 attacks, first planned to write his memoir for the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., that announced an agreement in December 2004. Tenet's representative, attorney Robert Barnett, said at the time that the book would likely come out at the end of 2005 or early in 2006.
But the deal, reportedly for seven figures, soon fell through and Tenet switched to HarperCollins in January 2006, saying he needed ''more time to both do the extensive research and to gain the necessary perspective.''
His memoir was originally scheduled to come out last month.
Tenet, 54, was appointed by President Clinton in 1997 and continued in the Bush administration until stepping down in 2004. Often criticized for intelligence failures on his watch, he is best known for telling President Bush in 2002 that he had ''slam dunk'' evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
Promotional materials from HarperCollins have said that Tenet will give the ''real context'' for his ''slam dunk'' comment. His publisher also says he will describe what drove him to declare war on al-Qaida in 1998 and pull the curtain back on meetings with senior officials in the months leading up to 9/11.
The CIA has had Tenet's entire book since January, and there has been significant discussion about what material can be included, according to an associate familiar with the book who spoke on condition of anonymity while the review process continued.
''The final bits and pieces of it are just being resolved,'' the associate said.
Current and former CIA officials are often frustrated by the arduous reviews. Clearing of material by the agency's Publications Review Board is intended to ensure that current and former officials' speeches and writings contain no classified information.
The CIA has also shared parts of the book with the White House, but none of the as-yet-unresolved classification issues stem from White House concerns, the associate said.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Books-Tenet.html?_r=1&oref=slogin