VolcanoJen
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Thu Jun-03-04 03:53 PM
Original message |
Spooked? (Newsweek's Isikoff and Hosenball on the Tenet Resignation) |
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Edited on Thu Jun-03-04 03:56 PM by VolcanoJen
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5130488/site/newsweek/Spooked? CIA director George Tenet's sudden resignation comes on the eve of two reports on the agency's pre-war intelligenceExcerpt: But congressional sources said the timing seemed to be influenced by the impending release of a massive Senate Intelligence Committee report that one official described as a “devastating indictment” of the agency’s handling of pre-war intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Another report expected next month from the national commission investigating the September 11 attacks is expected to roundly criticize the agency’s failure to develop sources inside Al Qaeda and piece together evidence—including information in its files on two of the hijackers—that might have helped uncover the plot. "This seems to have as much to do with the president's re-election as anything else," says one veteran intelligence community official who has long been close to Tenet. "George is a fighter and it's not in his character to walk away like this. I think he read the tea leaves" that the White House wanted him to leave, the official said.
<snip>
But the Senate report will document how major portions of the Powell’s speech—vetted line by line with Tenet and other top CIA officials—turned out to be wrong and much more thinly sourced than the secretary of State had been led to believe, sources said. In the case of the mobile biological-weapons labs—one of the most graphic examples cited by Powell—investigators have found that the story most likely was fabricated by Iraqi defectors who were never adequately vetted by the CIA. The most important source cited by Powell, who was given the codename Curveball, was never even interviewed by the CIA before the speech; investigators only learned later that Curveball was a relative of a top associate of Ahmad Chalabi, controversial leader of the Iraqi National Congress. Chalabi's group also supplied a second informant cited by Powell; unbeknownst to CIA analysts, the Defense Intelligence Agency had already concluded this informant was a “fabricator.”
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JoFerret
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Thu Jun-03-04 03:55 PM
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Nashyra
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Thu Jun-03-04 03:59 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
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He is a survior and will turn on the *. It has been said that he was the one along with Clarke telling everyone that there was something seriously coming down the pipleine.
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FleshCartoon
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Thu Jun-03-04 05:00 PM
Response to Reply #3 |
15. Speaking of Richard Clarke... |
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...in his various appearances, and in his testimony, he stepped up to bat for Tenet. I can't believe he will stay quiet about this should it be (and I'm sure it is) that Bush forced the resignation.
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VolcanoJen
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Thu Jun-03-04 05:04 PM
Response to Reply #15 |
16. I'm sure Clarke will appear on "Nightline" tonight. |
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He's a paid correspondent for ABC now, and he tends to show up on Nightline when his insight would especially be sought.
I think tonight is one of those times...
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Blue_Roses
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Thu Jun-03-04 06:50 PM
Response to Reply #15 |
25. Actually he was speaking out about this on the ABC evening news |
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Edited on Thu Jun-03-04 06:51 PM by devrc243
He said that Tenent was one of the ones with him running through the White House with his "hair on fire," before 9/11 saying something was about to happen. Clarke also mention the 44 some odd times that Tenet tried to tell Bush this with no avail. (it's also in Clarke's book where he outlines it more).
He also said that maybe Tenent had gotten too close to Bush and just wanted to do what he thought Bush wanted, regarding the "slam dunk" comment on finding intelligence on Iraq's WMD.
My head is spinning with all the different takes on this story...:crazy:
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Born Free
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Thu Jun-03-04 05:46 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
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I agree, he is the fall guy for the bush team, but it ain't over yet! The CIA isn't going to sit back and let political fanantics destroy them without a fight, and in the end I place my bets on the CIA being the winner.
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Beetwasher
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Thu Jun-03-04 03:58 PM
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Emboldened Chimp
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:50 PM
Response to Reply #2 |
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I'm so sick of all the bullshit. Anybody who's been paying attention KNOWS that OSP cherry picked intel with the help Chalabi. It was Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Feith, Cheney and Scooter-Boy, not Tenet.
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gonefishing
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:00 PM
Response to Original message |
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Edited on Thu Jun-03-04 04:00 PM by gonefishing
A CNN article said that he wanted to spend more time with his family. I swear my head is going to explode. Do they think we are just a bunch of idiots!
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TrogL
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:04 PM
Response to Reply #4 |
6. The article said "he said" |
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"spend more time with family" is code for being asked to leave
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DainBramaged
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Thu Jun-03-04 06:35 PM
Response to Reply #6 |
24. You all have missed a very key sentence in Tenet's speech |
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To the CIA this morning;
"FOR THE WELL BEING OF MY FAMILY"
Does that seem a strange comment to make?
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Cronus Protagonist
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Thu Jun-03-04 08:25 PM
Response to Reply #24 |
26. Yup! It hit me like a sledgehammer too |
laylah
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Thu Jun-03-04 09:13 PM
Response to Reply #4 |
30. Have most of the 'Muricans |
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proved any differently?
Jenn
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nadinbrzezinski
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:00 PM
Response to Original message |
5. Who here remembers the ever so lovely |
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Saturday Night Masacre? This is what this is increasingly reminding me off. No I did not live through it, just read plenty on it.
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VolcanoJen
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:05 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
7. It's either "Saturday Night Massacre" or "Night of the Long Knives." |
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Not sure which yet... :-)
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struggle4progress
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:24 PM
Response to Reply #7 |
9. I'm concerned it's the "Long Knives" |
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I never liked Tenet much but I'm not convinced his departure is good news: it may simply mean that Administration hardliners are consolidating their control over the intelligence apparatus; if so, the ride may get even bumpier as we rush off to another war with "good" intelligence from a "reformed" CIA.
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alfredo
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:34 PM
Response to Reply #9 |
11. You could be right. Rummy wants all the power in his hands |
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Tenet and Powell had too much power for his tastes. Ashcroft tried to undercut Ridge last week with his phony baloney terra warning. Yeah, there is a power struggle between the insiders and outsiders, neo verses paleo cons.
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struggle4progress
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:43 PM
Response to Reply #11 |
12. If there's really a power struggle among the various cons ... |
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I'm not nearly so worried. But I'm not convinced Ashcroft and Ridge were involved in much of a power struggle: I think what happened between those two reflects the "flexibility" (that is, "contempt for orderly bureaucratic process") of the Bushistas, with Ashcroft playing directly out of Rove's book for political gain, Ridge having been left out of the loop (and hence feeling snubbed). But the prospect of complete ideological control of the natural security state apparatus, such as the CIA, really scares me, because that will remain beyond the reach of tools such as FOIA and budgetary control (since the budgets themselves are probably secret).
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alfredo
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Thu Jun-03-04 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #12 |
18. Homeland security and OSP were both seen as |
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attacks on the CIA's power.
You know Mueller is licking his chops now. I can see the Pentagon and the FBI will grab as much power as possible.
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DustMolecule
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Thu Jun-03-04 05:39 PM
Response to Reply #7 |
20. I didn't know what either of those were.... |
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so I googled them up. Very interesting. Here's a couple of links if anyone else might not know this history. Saturday Night Massacre http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturday_Night_MassacreNight of the Long Knives http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Long_Knives
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NashVegas
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Thu Jun-03-04 08:34 PM
Response to Reply #7 |
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Edited on Thu Jun-03-04 08:35 PM by Crisco
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Deere_John
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:16 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
8. I did live thru it..... |
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...and it scared the crap out of me -- but what's happening now is worse.
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struggle4progress
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:24 PM
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nadinbrzezinski
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Thu Jun-03-04 06:17 PM
Response to Reply #8 |
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Three weeks ago I said, we had entered end game. We are now fully in end game. It is now too obvous to miss it
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daleo
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Thu Jun-03-04 11:13 PM
Response to Reply #22 |
33. That was quite prescient |
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I remember your references. I am still not sure if it will come to that (impeachment), but it is looking more possible.
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burrowowl
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Thu Jun-03-04 09:09 PM
Response to Reply #8 |
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and this is much worse. There are no checks and balances left and people seemed to be more anesthetized than back then.
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Shadder
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Thu Jun-03-04 04:47 PM
Response to Reply #5 |
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But it seems more like a bad episode of Saturday Night Live to me.....
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TahitiNut
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Thu Jun-03-04 05:11 PM
Response to Reply #13 |
19. More like "Saturday Night on Elm Street" |
Malva Zebrina
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Thu Jun-03-04 05:05 PM
Response to Original message |
17. Yup, no one knew anything |
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and stupid people like us just were protesting on hysterical liberal, emotion and not fact. We were "fringe"
Yup, they all knew it all and knew nothing.
there were millions of ordinary people who were not, but they were only the common man, dumb and not privy to the real information and not in the loop of the sophisticated knowledgable belt way hierophants.
Yup--we were stupid, they were smart. Uh Huh and they murdered thousands and have blood on their hands and you know what?
I don't think they even care about the blood on their hands.
Fed up with it all.
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WannaJumpMyScooter
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Thu Jun-03-04 11:19 PM
Response to Reply #17 |
34. They have never cared about blood on their hands, |
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trust me on this. As long as they don't have to smell the result.
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phoebe
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Thu Jun-03-04 06:30 PM
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NashVegas
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Thu Jun-03-04 08:33 PM
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The thing is, even if they do have spooks inside Al Queda, it can never be made public.
not while the war on terra is in full swing, anyway.
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spooked
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Thu Jun-03-04 09:52 PM
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goforit
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Thu Jun-03-04 11:02 PM
Response to Original message |
32. Good timing on Tenent's backout, Newsweek.....did you plan it? |
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