Editorial: A full accounting

Monday, Aug. 27, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

There is a serious lack of accountability in the Central Intelligence Agency, as shown by the summary of an inspector general's report released last week.

Two years ago the inspector general filed a report on the CIA's failures leading up to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the agency finally released a summary - with many details censored - to the public. It tried to keep the summary secret, but Congress finally passed a bill that ordered the CIA to produce it.

The report called for several CIA officials, including former Director George Tenet, to appear before accountability boards that would examine who was responsible for the failures. In response, Tenet issued a stinging rebuke of the inspector general's report, calling it "flat wrong."

The current CIA chief, Gen. Michael Hayden, has tried to sweep this matter away. He agreed with his predecessor, Porter Goss, who declined to hold people accountable. Hayden maintains that there have been enough inquiries into the CIA's performance and cited the inspector general's report that found "no single point of failure." He said the agency has examined and learned from its mistakes and that terrorism "demands that we keep our focus on the present and the future."

We agree with Hayden that all our intelligence agencies need to be looking ahead in taking steps to defend our country. But that doesn't mean that people should escape accountability for their actions. To reject the inspector general's recommendation, calling for accountability, is nothing short of outrageous.

What is the CIA afraid of?