US Central Intelligence Agency Director George Tenet promised Wednesday to pierce ”the shield of fanaticism,” as US officials pondered a response to this week’s terrorist attacks on major US buildings. ”The shield of fanaticism — wielded by those ready to forfeit their lives to achieve their twisted dreams — is not easily pierced,” Tenet said, addressing employees at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. ”But it has been pierced before, and it will be pierced again,” he said. The attacks are believed to have killed thousands of people. Islamic radical Osama bin Laden has a merged as a prime suspect in the wake of the attacks, according to US counter-terrorism experts. Implicitly answering critics, who argue that the attacks were the result of a major US intelligence failure, Tenet sought to reassure CIA employees and keep their morale up. ”Though we did not stop the latest, terrible assaults, you — the men and women of CIA and our intelligence community – have done much to combat terrorism in the past,” he said Tenet said hundreds, if not thousands, of American lives have been saved by US intelligence operatives, who, in his words, ”work relentlessly every day against this difficult target.” ”The terrorists behind these atrocities — and those who give them shelter and support — must never know rest, ease, or comfort,” said the CIA director. ”The last word must not be theirs.” He urged CIA employees to ”put some spirit in your step, square your shoulders, focus your eyes — we have a job to do.” – Reuters