Tenet memoirs under review by NSC

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- The U.S. National Security Council is reviewing parts of former CIA Director George Tenet's memoirs.

Officials say the review by the NSC, which is part of the White House staff, is to determine whether "In the Center of the Storm" contains any classified information and not to vet it for negative comments on President Bush, The Washington Times reported. The CIA Publications Review Board sent parts of the manuscript to the NSC.

Tenet, who was first appointed head of the CIA by President Bill Clinton, remained in the position under Bush. He came under fire for failing to anticipate the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and for overestimating the threat posed by Iraq.

Most notoriously, Tenet reportedly told the president that making the case that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was a "slam dunk."

"Written submissions by former CIA employees are also referred to classification review specialists at other government agencies that may have equities with regard to classification issues," CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield said. "For example, that agency may be in a better position to know if a certain factor or piece of information is classified. Portions of Mr. Tenet's manuscript were referred to the classified review specialists at the NSC and that's in line with what we would do with other CIA employees."