Want a Medal of Freedom?

Simply fail at your job of protecting the United States from terrorists:

An internal investigation by the Central Intelligence Agency has concluded that officials who served at the highest levels of the agency should be held accountable for failing to allocate adequate resources to combating terrorism before the Sept. 11 attacks, according to current and former intelligence officials.

The findings, which are still classified, pose a quandary for the C.I.A. and the administration, particularly since President Bush awarded a Medal of Freedom to Mr. Tenet last month. It is not clear whether either the agency or the White House has the appetite to reprimand Mr. Tenet, Mr. Pavitt or others.

This article in the NY Times goes into greater detail about how exactly Tenet fell down on the job. The absurdity of awarding "Slam-Dunk" Tenet a Medal of Freedom in the first place could only be beaten by the absurdity of awarding it to him after this report came out... which is not to say that Bush wouldn't have given it to him anyway.