Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet released a written statement for the Joint Inquiry Committee on October 17, 2002. Regarding surveillance on future 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, it read: “There are at least two points before August 2001 when these individuals were on our scope with sufficient information to have been watchlisted. During the intense operations to thwart the Millennium and Ramadan threats [in 1999-2000], the watchlist task in the case of these two al-Qaida operatives slipped through. The error exposed a weakness in our internal training and an inconsistent understanding of watchlist thresholds. Corrective steps have been taken.”
– CIA, “Written Statement for the Record of the DCI,” (before the Joint Inquiry Committee, CIA), The Central Intelligence Agency’s 9/11 File:, The National Security Archive, Oct. 17, 2002