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Acquaintance of George J. Tenet

Employee of Central Intelligence Agency

A.B. (Buzzy) Krongard was a participant or observer in the following events:
1997-2001: CIA Counterterrorist Center Does Not Spend All Funds Allocated, Despite
Complaining about Resource Shortages

A later review by the CIAs inspector general will find that the CIAs counterterrorism
resources are not properly administered during this period. The review will comment that
during the same period [CIA counterterrorism managers] were appealing the shortage of
resources, senior officials were not effectively managing the Agencys counterterrorism
funds. In particular:
Although counterterrorism funding increases from 1998, funds are moved from the base
budget of the Counterterrorist Center to other CIA units. Some of the funds moved are
used to cover nonspecific corporate taxes and for a variety of purposes that were
unrelated to terrorism;
No funds are moved from other programs to support counterterrorism, even after CIA
Director George Tenet issues a declaration of war against al-Qaeda in December 1998
and says he wants no resources spared in the fight against terrorism (see December 4,
1998);
Little use of reserve CIA funds is made to fight terrorism;
Counterterrorism managers do not spend all the money they have, even after their
funding has been reduced by diversions to other programs. [CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY,
6/2005, PP. X-XI

The CIAs inspector general will recommend that accountability boards be convened to
review the performance of the following officials for these failings:
The executive director (David Carey from July 1997, A.B. Buzzy Krongard from March
2001);
The deputy director for operations (Jack Downing from 1997, James Pavitt from 1999);
and
The chief of the Counterterrorist Center (Jeff OConnell from 1997, Cofer Black from
summer 1999). [CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, 3/16/2001; COLL, 2004, PP. XIV, 456; CENTRAL
INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, 6/2005, PP. X-XI

Entity Tags: Jeff OConnell, Office of the Inspector General (CIA), Jack Downing, James Pavitt,

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Counterterrorist Center, David Carey, Central Intelligence Agency, A.B. (Buzzy) Krongard, Cofer
Black
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline
August 7-September 10, 2001: Fire and Evacuation at CIA Headquarters Helps Prepare for
Response on 9/11

CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. [Source: GlobeXplorer]A

fire lasting several hours leads to the forced evacuation of the CIA headquarters in
Langley, Virginia. [REUTERS, 8/8/2001] The fire is discovered on August 7 at around 5:45 p.m.,
in the northeast section of the agencys older headquarters building, and more than 60
firefighters are involved in putting it out. It was reportedly caused by a workman at the
top of an elevator shaft dropping a welder, which ignited wood at the bottom of the shaft.
Both the older headquarters building and the agencys new headquarters building nearby
are evacuated. Following this fire, A. B. Buzzy Krongardthe executive director of the
CIA since March this yearis dismayed to find that plans for an evacuation of the
headquarters are patchy, and that some of the fire alarms do not work. In the ensuing
month he therefore initiates regular fire drills and equips key agency officials with tiny
walkie-talkies, meaning communication will still be possible should cell phones ever go
out. Krongard declares that evacuating safely is to be more important than storing
classified material, and has the agencys computer network reprogrammed so an
evacuation warning could be flashed on all computer screens. Journalist and author Ronald
Kessler will describe the August 7 fire as being fortuitous, as little over a month later,
on the morning of September 11, CIA Director George Tenet will order the evacuation of
the headquarters building due to fears that it might be targeted (see (9:50 a.m.-10:00
a.m.) September 11, 2001). On that day, Tenet and other top officials will reconvene at
an alternate location on the CIA campus, [f]ollowing procedures laid out by Krongard
after the fire. [CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, 3/16/2001; ASSOCIATED PRESS, 8/7/2001; WASHINGTON

POST, 8/8/2001; KESSLER, 2003, PP. 222-223]

Entity Tags: A.B. (Buzzy) Krongard, Central Intelligence Agency

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, 9/11 Timeline

(8:48 a.m.) September 11, 2001: Top CIA Officials Learn of First Attack on WTC

Most days, at 8:30 a.m., CIA Director George Tenet holds a meeting in his conference room
at CIA headquarters where 15 top agency officials contribute the news from their
particular area. But on this day Tenet is away, having breakfast with former Senator David
Boren (D-OK) (see (8:50 a.m.) September 11, 2001). In his place, running the meeting is A.
B. Buzzy Krongard, the CIAs executive director. After the first attack occurs, the senior

Contact Us

duty officer of the CIAs Operations Center interrupts and announces, Excuse me, Mr.
Krongard, but I thought you would want to know that a plane just struck the World Trade
Center. The Operations Center, which is staffed, 24 hours a day by 15 officers, has three
televisions that are usually tuned to CNN, MSNBC, and Fox. So presumably the duty officer
has just seen the initial televised reports coming from New York. Krongard then adjourns
his meeting and returns to his office. [KESSLER, 2003, PP. 196-197 AND 202]
Entity Tags: Central Intelligence Agency, A.B. (Buzzy) Krongard
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, 9/11 Timeline

September 12, 2001: British Intelligence Chiefs Fly to US; Delegation Visits CIA and Advises to
Concentrate on Afghanistan, Not Iraq

Eliza Manningham-Buller. [Source: AFP / Getty Images]Despite the restrictions on air

travel following the previous days attacks, one private plane is allowed to fly from Britain
to the United States. On it are Sir Richard Dearlove, the head of the British secret
intelligence service (MI6), and Eliza Manningham-Buller, the deputy chief of Britains
domestic intelligence service, MI5. In his 2007 book At the Center of the Storm, CIA
Director George Tenet will admit, I still dont know how they got flight clearance into the
country. Manningham-Buller and Dearlove dine for an hour-and-a-half with a group of
American intelligence officials at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. [TENET, 2007, PP.
173-174; BBC, 12/4/2007] In addition to Tenet, the US officials at the dinner include James
Pavitt and his deputy from the CIAs Directorate for Operations; A. B. Buzzy Krongard,
the CIAs executive director; Cofer Black, the director of the CIAs Counterterrorist
Center; Tyler Drumheller, the chief of the CIAs European Division; the chief of the CIAs
Near East Division; and Thomas Pickard, the acting director of the FBI. Also part of the
British delegation is David Manning, Prime Minister Tony Blairs foreign policy adviser, who
was already in the US before 9/11. [SALON, 7/2/2007] The British offer condolences and their
full support. The Americans say they are already certain that al-Qaeda was behind the
9/11 attacks, having recognized names on passenger lists of the hijacked flights. They also
say they believe the attacks are not yet over. [TENET, 2007, PP. 174; BBC, 12/4/2007] According
to Drumheller, Manning says, I hope we can all agree that we should concentrate on
Afghanistan and not be tempted to launch any attacks on Iraq. Tenet replies:
Absolutely, we all agree on that. Some might want to link the issues, but none of us
wants to go that route. [NEWSWEEK, 10/30/2006; SALON, 7/2/2007; GUARDIAN, 8/4/2007]

Entity Tags: Thomas Pickard, Tyler Drumheller, James Pavitt, George J. Tenet, Richard Dearlove,

David Manning, Eliza Manningham-Buller, A.B. (Buzzy) Krongard, Cofer Black

Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, 9/11 Timeline, War in Afghanistan
2002: Blackwater Wins No-Bid CIA Contract

Blackwater wins a no-bid contract worth $5.4 million from the CIA. The nature of the
contract is unknown, but it is reportedly obtained after Blackwater head Eric Prince
telephones the CIAs Executive Director A. B. Buzzy Krongard. [HARPER'S, 9/12/2006]
Entity Tags: A.B. (Buzzy) Krongard, Blackwater USA, Central Intelligence Agency, Erik Prince
Timeline Tags: Misc Entries

April 2002: Blackwater Deploys First Team to Afghanistan

A small team of contractors from the private security firm Blackwater is deployed inside
Afghanistan, as a result of a $5 million contract between Blackwater and the CIA (see 2002
and 2002). The contractors provide security for the CIA at the agencys station in Kabul
and at The Alamo, a mud fortress in Shkin, along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. In
May, Blackwater founder and owner Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL, will fly to
Afghanistan to help expand operations. The Kabul and Shkin deployments are the first in a
long, profitable relationship between the CIA and Blackwater. The relationship stems from
a long friendship between Prince and Alvin Buzzy Krongard, the CIAs executive
director. Prince formed another part of the Blackwater group, Blackwater Security
Consulting, in early 2002 along with former CIA operative Jamie Smith; Krongard provided
the firm with one of its first government contracts. In 2006, Krongard will explain:
Blackwater got a contract because they were the first people that could get people on
the ground. The only concern we had was getting the best security for our people. If we
thought Martians could provide it, I guess we would have gone after them. The
relationship between Krongard and Blackwater will deepen after the first Afghanistan
deployment, with Krongard making repeated visits to the Blackwater headquarters in
North Carolina and even bringing his children along to use Blackwaters firing range.
Prince was denied a position with the CIA, but will maintain a close relationship with the
agency, and will receive green badge access to most CIA stations around the world.
Krongard will join Blackwaters board of directors in 2007. [NATION, 8/20/2009]
Entity Tags: Jamie Smith, A.B. (Buzzy) Krongard, Blackwater USA, Central Intelligence Agency,

Erik Prince
Timeline Tags: War in Afghanistan

June 3, 2002: Results of 9/11 Related Insider Trading Inquiries Are Still Unknown

A rare follow-up article about insider trading based on 9/11 foreknowledge confirms that
numerous inquiries in the US and around the world are still ongoing. However, all are
treating these inquiries as if they were state secrets. The author speculates: The silence
from the investigating camps could mean any of several things: Either terrorists are
responsible for the puts on the airline stocks; others besides terrorists had foreknowledge;
the puts were just lucky bets by credible investors; or, there is nothing whatsoever to
support the insider-trading rumors. [INSIGHT, 6/3/2002] Another article notes that Deutsche
Bank Alex Brown, the American investment banking arm of German giant Deutsche Bank,
purchased at least some of these options. Deutsche Bank Alex Brown was once headed by
Buzzy Krongard, who quit that company in March 2001 and became Executive Director of
the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This fact may not be significant. And then again, it
may. After all, there has traditionally been a close link between the CIA, big banks, and
the brokerage business. [BUSINESS LINE, 2/11/2002]
Entity Tags: A.B. (Buzzy) Krongard, Deutsche Bank, Central Intelligence Agency
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, 9/11 Timeline

January 9, 2005: Newly Departing CIA Executive Director Says Its Better If Bin Laden Remains
Free

A. B. Buzzy Krongard, the CIAs recently departed Executive Director, says in an

interview that the world may be better off if bin Laden remains at large. Krongard had
been Executive Director, the CIAs third most senior position, from 1998 until six weeks
before this interview. He states, You can make the argument that were better off with
him [at large]. Because if something happens to bin Laden, you might find a lot of people

vying for his position and demonstrating how macho they are by unleashing a stream of
terror. The London Times notes that, Several US officials have privately admitted that it
may be better to keep bin Laden pinned down on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan
rather than make him a martyr or put him on trial. However, Krongard is the only senior
official to say so publicly, and this position completely contradicts the rhetoric of the Bush
administration, which has consistently claimed that catching bin Laden remains a top
priority. [LONDON TIMES, 1/9/2005]
Entity Tags: A.B. (Buzzy) Krongard, Osama bin Laden
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline

June 2005: Revised CIA Inspector General Report Completed; Recommends Accountability
Boards for Several Officers

A revised version of the CIA inspector generals report into some of the agencys failings
before 9/11 is finished and sent to CIA management. A version of the report had been
completed a year earlier, but it had to be revised due to criticism (see June-November
2004). It recommends accountability boards be convened to assess the performance of
several officers. Although not all the officers are named, it is sometimes possible to
deduce who they are based on the circumstances. The convening of accountability boards
is recommended for:
CIA Director George Tenet, for failing to personally resolve differences between the CIA
and NSA that impeded counterterrorism efforts;
CIA Executive Director David Carey (July 1997-March 2001), CIA Executive Director A.B.
Buzzy Krongard (March 2001-9/11), CIA Deputy Director for Operations Jack Downing
(1997-1999), and CIA Deputy Director for Operations James Pavitt (1999-9/11) for failing
to properly manage CIA counterterrorism funds (see 1997-2001);
CIA Counterterrorist Center Chief Jeff OConnell (1997-1999) for failing to properly
manage CIA counterterrorism funds (see 1997-2001), for staffing Alec Station, the CIAs bin
Laden unit, with officers lacking experience, expertise and training, for failing to ensure
units under him coordinated coverage of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM), for poor
leadership of the CIAs watchlisting program, for poor management of a program where
officers were loaned between the CIA and other agencies, and for failing to send officers
to the NSA to review its material;
CIA Counterterrorist Center Chief Cofer Black (Summer 1999-9/11) for failing to properly
manage CIA counterterrorism funds (see 1997-2001), for staffing Alec Station, the CIAs bin
Laden unit, with officers lacking experience, expertise and training, for failing to ensure
units under him coordinated coverage of KSM, for poor leadership of the CIAs watchlisting
program, possibly for failing to ensure the FBI was informed one of the 9/11 hijackers had
entered the US, possibly for failing to do anything about Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid
Almihdhar in 2001, for poor management of a program where officers were loaned
between the CIA and other agencies, and for failing to send officers to the NSA to review
its material;
Chief of Alec Station Richard Blee. Some sections of the report appear to refer to Blee,
but are redacted. It seems to criticize him for failing to properly oversee operations
related to KSM, failing to ensure the FBI was informed one of the 9/11 hijackers had
entered the US, and failing to do anything about Alhazmi and Almihdhar in 2001;
Deputy Chief of Alec Station Tom Wilshire. Some sections of the report appear to refer to
Tom Wilshire, but are redacted. It seems to criticize him for failing to ensure the FBI was
informed one of the 9/11 hijackers had entered the US, and for failing to do anything
about Alhazmi and Almihdhar in 2001;
Unnamed officer, possibly head of the CIAs renditions branch, for failing to properly

oversee operations related to KSM;

Unnamed officer, for failing to ensure the FBI was informed one of the 9/11 hijackers had
entered the US, and for failing to do anything about Alhazmi and Almihdhar in 2001;
Unnamed officer(s), for failure to produce any coverage of KSM from 1997 to 2001. The
type of coverage that should have been provided is redacted in the publicly released
executive summary of the report.
The report may recommend accountability boards for other officers, but this is not known
due to redactions and the publication of only the executive summary. CIA Director Porter
Goss will decide not to convene any accountability boards (see October 10, 2005), and the
report will remain secret until the executive summary is released in 2007 (see August 21,
2007). [CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, 6/2005 ]
Entity Tags: Jeff OConnell, Office of the Inspector General (CIA), James Pavitt, Tom Wilshire, Jack

Downing, David Carey, A.B. (Buzzy) Krongard, Central Intelligence Agency, Cofer Black, George J.
Tenet, Richard Blee
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline, 9/11 Timeline
August 19-20, 2009: Media Learns of CIA Assassination Contract with Blackwater

Xe logo. Xe is the name for the firm that previously called itself Blackwater USA and later
Blackwater Worldwide. [Source: Public domain]Both the New York Times and Washington Post report

that in 2004, the CIA hired outside contractors from Blackwater USA, a private security
firm, to take part in a secret program to find and kill top al-Qaeda operatives in
Afghanistan, Pakistan, and elsewhere (see 2004). Both stories highlight the fact that a
program to assassinate or capture al-Qaeda leaders that began around September 2001
(see Shortly After September 17, 2001) was terminated and then revived and outsourced
to Blackwater in 2004 (see 2004 and (2005-2006)). CIA Director Leon Panetta alerted
Congress to the secret program in June 2009 (see June 24, 2009), but the public is just
now learning of its existence. Government officials say that bringing contractors into a
program that has the authority to kill raises serious concerns about accountability in
covert operations. Blackwaters role in the program ended years before Panetta took over
the agency, but senior CIA officials have long questioned the propriety and the wisdom of
using outside contractorsin essence, mercenariesin a targeted killing program. [NEW
YORK TIMES, 8/20/2009; NEW YORK TIMES, 8/20/2009; WASHINGTON POST, 8/20/2009] A retired
intelligence officer described as intimately familiar with the assassination program says,
Outsourcing gave the agency more protection in case something went wrong. [NATION,
8/20/2009] The assassination program is just one of a number of contracted services
Blackwater provided for the CIA, and may still provide, including guarding CIA prisons and
loading missiles on Predator drones. The agency has always used contractors, says a
former CIA official familiar with the Predator operations. You have to be an explosives
expert, and the CIA has never sought to use its own personnel for the highly specialized
task. We didnt care who put on the munitions as long as it wasnt CIA case officers. [LOS
ANGELES TIMES, 8/21/2009]

No Laws Broken? - Former CIA general counsel Jeffrey Smith says that Blackwater may not
have broken any laws even by attempting to assassinate foreign nationals on the CIAs
orders. The use of force has been traditionally thought of as inherently governmental,
he says. The use of a contractor actually employing lethal force is clearly troublesome,

but Im not sure its necessarily illegal. [LOS ANGELES TIMES, 8/21/2009]
Mixed Reactions from Congress - Some Congressional Democrats say that the secret
assassination program is just one of many secret programs conducted by the Bush
administration, and have called for more intensive investigations into Bush-era
counterterrorism activities. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) says: I have believed for a long time
that the intelligence community is over-reliant on contractors to carry out its work. This is
especially a problem when contractors are used to carry out activities that are inherently
governmental. Conversely, some Congressional Republicans are critical of Panettas
decision to terminate the program, with Representative Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), the top
Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, accusing Panetta of indulging in too
much drama and intrigue than was warranted. Officials say that the program was
conceived as an alternative to the CIAs primary assassination method of missile strikes
using drone aircraft, which have killed many innocent civilians and cannot be used in
heavily populated urban areas. [NEW YORK TIMES, 8/20/2009; LOS ANGELES TIMES, 8/21/2009] Jan
Schakowsky (D-IL), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, says that she cannot
confirm or deny that Congress was informed of Blackwaters involvement in the program
before the New York Times broke the story. However, she notes: What we know now, if
this is true, is that Blackwater was part of the highest level, the innermost circle
strategizing and exercising strategy within the Bush administration. [Blackwater CEO] Erik
Prince operated at the highest and most secret level of the government. Clearly Prince
was more trusted than the US Congress because Vice President Cheney made the decision
not to brief Congress. This shows that there was absolutely no space whatsoever between
the Bush administration and Blackwater. Schakowsky says the House Intelligence
Committee is investigating the CIA assassination program and will probe alleged links to
Blackwater. Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern says: The presidential memos (often
referred to as findings) authorizing covert action like the lethal activities of the CIA and
Blackwater have not yet surfaced. They will, in due course, if knowledgeable sources
continue to put the Constitution and courage above secrecy oaths. [NATION, 8/20/2009]
Blackwater Employs Many Former CIA Officials - Author and reporter Jeremy Scahill notes
that many former Bush-era CIA officials now work at Blackwater, including former CIA
executive director Alvin Buzzy Krongard; former CIA counterterrorism chief J. Cofer
Black, who now operates Princes private intelligence company, Total Intelligence
Solutions (TIS); the CEO of TIS, Robert Richer, the former associate deputy director of the
CIAs Directorate of Operations and second-ranking official in charge of clandestine
operations; and Enrique Ric Prado, a former senior executive officer in the Directorate
of Operations. [NATION, 8/20/2009]
Loss of Control, Deniability - Former CIA field agent Jack Rice, who worked on covert
paramilitary operations for the agency, says, What the agency was doing with Blackwater
scares the hell out of me. He explains: When the agency actually cedes all oversight and
power to a private organization, an organization like Blackwater, most importantly they
lose control and dont understand whats going on. That makes it even worse is that you
then can turn around and have deniability. They can say, It wasnt us, we werent the
ones making the decisions. Thats the best of both worlds. Its analogous to what we hear
about torture that was being done in the name of Americans, when we simply handed
somebody over to the Syrians or the Egyptians or others and then we turn around and say,
Were not torturing people. [NATION, 8/20/2009]
Negative Publicity Led to Name Change, Prohibition from Operating in Iraq - Blackwater
has since changed its name to Xe Services, in part because of a raft of negative publicity it
has garnered surrounding allegations of its employees murdering Iraqi civilians; Iraq has
denied the firm a license to operate within its borders. [NEW YORK TIMES, 8/20/2009] However,

Blackwater continues to operate in both Iraq and Afghanistan, where it has contracts with
the State Department and Defense Department. The CIA refuses to acknowledge whether
it still contracts with Blackwater. [NATION, 8/20/2009]
Entity Tags: Obama administration, Total Intelligence Solutions, New York Times, Paul Gimigliano,

Peter Hoekstra, Robert Richer, Richard (Dick) Cheney, US Department of State, US Department of
Defense, Leon Panetta, Ray McGovern, Jeremy Scahill, Senate Intelligence Committee, Jan
Schakowsky, Central Intelligence Agency, Bush administration (43), Blackwater USA, A.B. (Buzzy)
Krongard, Cofer Black, Enrique (Ric) Prado, Dianne Feinstein, Jack Rice, Erik Prince, Jeffrey H.
Smith, House Intelligence Committee
Timeline Tags: Complete 911 Timeline
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