WASHINGTON, April 14 (UPI) -- CIA Director George Tenet told the Sept. 11 Commission Wednesday his agency produced detailed reports on the threat of al-Qaida before Sept. 11, 2001.
"I think there was depth and clarity across a range of products in a range of venues," Tenet said.
Tenet went on to say that the CIA's detailed reports were circulated among "senior policy makers."
Tenet said the CIA was focused on Afghanistan, al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden before the 2001 attacks, making moves to increase intelligence gathering there.
"The warning was well understood even if the timing and method of the attacks was not," Tenet said.
He added, however, that the CIA "never penetrated the 9/11 plot overseas."
He said that although monitoring al-Qaida had become a priority, failures in intelligence sharing and other breakdowns ultimately led the U.S. intelligence gathering efforts to fail.
"No matter how hard we worked or how desperately we tried, it was not enough," Tenet said. "The victims and the families of 9/11 deserved better."
