Are you guys hearing it? Tenent is the scapegoat for the WMD debacle!

[Catherine Vincent]

:grr: :grr:

[neuvocat]

1. Oh goodie.

Its not like Tenet would do anything in retaliation. Nosiree.

[theboss]

2. Well, um, yes

He called it a slam-dunk. He gave the same information to Clinton. It's not entirely his fault (of course) since the Administration was looking for any reason to go in.

But Tenet is a fool, an incompetent, and a failure.

[4morewars]

3. will his cesna crash????

or will it be a "heart attack" ??? either way, tenet won't see another christmas, is my guess.

[Rose Siding]

4. It's so messy.

Tenet did tell bush that selling the Iraq war would be a 'slam dunk', if Woodward is to be believed.

But wmd should be pinned most squarely on the dod agency CREATED to manufacture it.

[Career Prole]

16. That's what I'm seeing too...if Tenet sold it as a "slam dunk"

then why create the OSP? Why sign on Chalabi as the WMD PR guy?
Designed redundancy?
To my knowledge, Tenet wasn't quoted directly on the "slam dunk" statement, that came second-hand from bush*.
And bush* has issues with truth-telling.
Why didn't Tenet deny the "slam dunk" quote if he didn't say it?
I don't know...but it bears repeating, if your CIA director is willing to call the WMD's a slam dunk, there's no reason to take the risks they did with Chalabi, or to create an Office of Special Plans to "spin" the intel. :shrug:

[Rose Siding]

20. I didn't know the particulars of the remark.

It was really filtered through BUSH? That's hilarious. I just started remembering it today *as fact*. Maybe we got hookwinked, huh?

It really wouldn't have been director of the CIA-ish to come out and call bush on lying about it.

[Career Prole]

22. As I recall, the "slam dunk" line was from Woodward's book and

Woodward merely wrote what bush* claimed he was told by Tenet. I could be wrong, but that's how I remember it.

[Kahuna]

25. Right. It would be just like that weasel * smirk to lie about what..

Tenet said. I've always been skeptical about this quote. But apparently that doofus Woodward isn't.

[Kahuna]

26. Tenet told the 911 Comm. that all intelligence to the WH was approved..

by him. He stressed "all." Someone was hinting at the Office of Special Plans. Tenet cut them off before they could get their teeth into it. He implied that an OSP did not exist. This was when I really started having problems with Tenet as this was an obvious lie.

[Kahuna]

24. Not Woodward. If the person who said, Tenet said it would be a..

slam dunk, is to be believed. I haven't read the book. Does anyone know who Woodward credits with this statement?

[Career Prole]

33. Woodward said Boosh said Tenet said "slam-dunk"...

CBS article about Woodward's 60 Minutes interview quoted from
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/15/60minutes/main612067.shtml


The vice president led the way on declaring that Saddam Hussein definitely had weapons of mass destruction. Before that, the president had said only that Saddam “desires them.”

But ten days later, the vice president said Saddam already had weapons of mass destruction. And 12 days after that, the president too had apparently been persuaded: “A lot of people understand he holds weapons of mass destruction.”

Three months later, on Dec. 21, 2002, Woodward says CIA Director George Tenet brought his deputy, John McLaughlin, to the oval office to show the president and the vice president their best evidence that Saddam really had weapons of mass destruction.

”McLaughlin has access to all the satellite photos, and he goes in and he has flip charts in the oval office. The president listens to all of this and McLaughlin's done. And, and the president kind of, as he's inclined to do, says ‘Nice try, but that isn't gonna sell Joe Public. That isn't gonna convince Joe Public,’” says Woodward.

In his book, Woodward writes: "The presentation was a flop. The photos were not gripping. The intercepts were less than compelling. And then George Bush turns to George Tenet and says, 'This is the best we've got?'"

Says Woodward: “George Tenet's sitting on the couch, stands up, and says, ‘Don't worry, it's a slam dunk case.’" And the president challenges him again and Tenet says, ‘The case, it's a slam dunk.’ ...I asked the president about this and he said it was very important to have the CIA director – ‘Slam-dunk is as I interpreted is a sure thing, guaranteed. No possibility it won't go through the hoop.’ Others present, Cheney, very impressed.”

What did Woodward think of Tenet’s statement? “It’s a mistake,” he says. “Now the significance of that mistake - that was the key rationale for war.”

[Cocoa]

28. Woodward is NOT to be believed

his whole portrait of the skeptical Bush is impossible to swallow.

[Caution]

5. Fine by me

This close to the election, if a sitting president goes to war over the bungling of one of his top people (the head of the friggin CIA fer crissakes...his daddy's job!), just pound away on his ineffectiveness, the lie of a war we are in, etc etc and this can do nothing but hurt bush. I see no way in hell this can help him. And if they scapegoat him too much he'll get pissed and start hitting back.

[Bozita]

6. He'd have been gone months ago for WMD -- This is Plame and 911

Bush "lawyered up" last night.

[central scrutinizer]

7. didn't he plead for the yellowcake reference

be taken out of the SOTU?

[Catherine Vincent]

8. By them using Tenet as the scapegoat sheds all blame off of Bush!

I know that is what's going to happen. Tenet will get all the blame and Bush*/Cheney will get a slap on the wrist.

[MallRat]

9. Public opinion won't give Bush a free ride on this.

The Administration has been beating up Tenet for everything that's gone wrong since Inauguration Day.

9/11? Tenet's fault. No WMDs? Tenet's fault. Can't capture Bin Laden? Tenet's fault. Chalabi shares intelligence secrets with Iran? Tenet's fault.

That dog just won't hunt. People don't buy Bush's blame game anymore.

-MR

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

10. Yeah - the Freeps are rejoicing saying he will take all the WMD

controversy with him

[seemslikeadream]

11. Where did the WMD go george?

[Catherine Vincent]

31. Gosh, he looks like an idiot in that pic!

[Spazito]

12. Won't work, don't forget there is an internal war on...

CIA versus neocons, the leaks will continue, the CIA won't take the hit for the WMDs, no way!

[Norquist Nemesis]

13. WMD wasn't Tenet--

It was pushed by DOD Office of Special Plans. CIA did not have the 'without question or doubt' that OSP stovepiped. As to 9/11, there's this little thing called a PDB dated 8/6/01.

He's being scapegoated. Bush is probably pissed because he had to hire a private lawyer and Tenet didn't give the asshole a heads up on the investigation(s). Of course, Tenet has kind of had his hands full due to Bush's incompetence as a "leader".

[bluedog]

14. Grand Jury

should give Tenet immunity.........he can now feel free to tell all of the lies that were fed to the people of the United Staes...........and how he and the CIA was urged to make up dire facts against Iraq to start a senseless war!!!

[theboss]

23. When? Back in '98?

Tenet's been up to his neck in bad information for a long long time.

[seabeyond]

15. slam dunk.......that willbe his history

has anyone heard tenet say he said that. cause i remember with powell, prior to backing war tenet was saying they dont have people in iraq and they dont know. they dont have the info. then he and powell did about turn in powells u.n. speech

so

when hearing on news the big is woodwards book "slam dunk" my thought, bush told woodward that. i havent heard tenent say he said that

[Career Prole]

36. That's what I said up above a ways...

I haven't found a single direct quote from Tenet anywhere saying "slam-dunk". This whole thing came from something Bush told Woodward in an interview and somehow became gospel even though the words came from the lyingest lips to ever stumble through a SOTU!

Tenet—who according to Bob Woodward’s recent book, “Plan of Attack,” once called the agency’s case for Saddam’s WMD a “slam dunk"—knew that his leadership of the CIA was about to be strongly criticized. “He didn’t want to go through this,” said one congressional source familiar with the panel’s findings. “There was nowhere for to go and was in charge of the whole mess.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5130488/site/newsweek/

When he was finished, there was "a brief moment of silence," writes Woodward:
" 'Nice try,' Bush said. 'I don't think this is quite—it's not something that Joe Public would understand or would gain a lot of confidence from.' ... Bush turned to Tenet. 'I've been told all this intelligence about having WMD and this is the best we've got?' From the end of one of the couches in the Oval Office, Tenet rose up, threw his arms in the air. 'It's a slam dunk!' the DCI said. Bush pressed. 'George, how confident are you?' Tenet, a basketball fan who attended as many home games of his alma mater Georgetown as possible, leaned forward and threw up his arms again. 'Don't worry, it's a slam dunk!' "
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4767542/

CBS, CNN, all the same thing. It's all just hearsay right now. There's been nothing outside of Woodward's book. Nada.

[karabekian]

17. he did say Iraqi WMD

were a "slam dunk". It is his job to provide intelligence for our government to make decisions. I wouldn't exactly call him a scapegoat and I am suprised this didn't happen sooner.

[Catherine Vincent]

19. I'm wondering if Tenet actually told Bush* that.

Maybe Bush misunderstood Tenent and Bush just ran with it.

[Skittles]

18. this is connected to the Chalabi news

I hope Tenent talks

[napi21]

21. I said this all along, but DUers told me no, he knows too much.

Everybody told me that Tenet knows where all the bodies are burried and the admin. won't take the chance. Well, we'll see what happens. Will he take the hit for everything, or will he decide to take some others with him?

I think since Tenet worked with both Clinton & Bush, he's probably not as "loyal" as some of the other blind supporters are, plus, I'd bet he is going to, or has already gotten calls from folks like Richard Clarke, Bill Clinton, Paul O'Neal, etc. It's amazing how brave and talkative you can get when you have a group of "knowledgeable" people telling you they'll stick with you.

[Kahuna]

27. Before you pat yourself on the back, consider this. He could..

end up with a lucrative position with the Carlyle Group. It's that were all good Bushista soldiers go to be rewarded for their ...er... "loyalty?"

[napi21]

29. It's possible, but I don't think so.

I actually believe Tenet tried to do his best, and was genuinely upset and disturbed by failures in the intelligence community. I don't think he'd have any problem getting a lucrative position with a lot of different companies, and he wouldn't have to compromise his ethics in the process.

[Kahuna]

30. I believed he did his best too. I defended Tenet for a long time..

on DU. But when he denied the existance of the OSP before the 9/11 comm and said that he was responsible for ALL intelligence received by the WH, what more break can I give him after that? He is a willing victim. If he's a willing victim, you have to ask, why? Why would he be willing to take the heat unless he knows that he will be rewarded for it down the road?

I truly hope you are right and that I am wrong. I would love to be able to say, Tenet wasn't all bad and that I wasn't off the mark when I saw some honor and goodness in him.

:hi:

[SoCalDem]

32. When Bush came to power in 2001, that was MY thought too

Tenet was a "holdover" from CLINTON, and would be a handy scapegoat for him to use, if anything went wrong..

The common thought was that Tenet "had the goods" on the Bush family, so he was retained...to keep him close....but after 9-11, it seemed odd to me that even though they constantly referred to him as 'Clinton-appointee-Tenet', they still kept him on..

[PATRICK]

34. the corpse wasn't even warm

Not to wait until Friday, SOMETHING must have been going down pretty fast that this resignation was rushed through. The ink wasn't even dry on Bush canned praises when they stopped Tenet on the exit and told him to take some of the garbage with him.

No book, it seems can contain all the machinations going on any given crisis day at Bush Coup Inc.- if ever enough of them came to light.
I think it centers on an alarming convergence of internal scandals piercing the oval office in one way or another.

Something couldn't wait and they want it to be interpreted as an IMMINENT tagging of Tenet for WMD's 911 etc.

Now that the not very innocent scapegoat has been led outside the walls....

[Catherine Vincent]

35. Edited to add 9/11 failures included with WMD.

:gree:

[cal04]

37. 27-Year CIA Vet Ray McGovern On George Tenet's Surprise Resignation

This is happening at the same time, Ray McGovern, as George Bush is just getting his own private lawyer to deal with the Bush administration exposing of the CIA operative Valerie Plame. Now this both implicated Central Intelligence because Novak said the reporter who exposed the story said he was speaking with Bush administration officials said that he spoke with both people in the CIA as well as the White House. Can you talk about that?

RAY MCGOVERN: Yeah, I’m just fresh actually from writing an Op-Ed on the general question of the president seeking private counsel. I think he’s learned from one very large mistake. That is he’s learned by going to a private counsel to get advice on the Valerie Plame case. I think he’s probably by now read the memorandum of 25 January 2002 that Alberto Gonzalez, his chief White House counsel wrote to him. This is the one that says, well you know, Geneva Conventions, that’s kind of a nettle here. We have US law actually, dated 1996 which makes it a crime punishable by death to rescind from or to ignore or to exempt people from the Geneva Conventions on prisoners of war. But Ashcroft says it’s okay as far as the Al Qaeda people are concerned, and I think it’s probably okay to exempt the Taliban as well. And the only downside is that exempting people is a slippery slope and people might come up with some ambiguity with respect to which prisoners qualify for such protection and which do not. And so he finished up by saying, there’s a reasonable basis in law Mr. President, that you will not be prosecuted for war crimes under the US code, War Crimes Act of 1996.
Now if I’m President Bush and I finally read that thing because Newsweek has it printed, and I say, my goodness, there’s a reasonable basis in law that I won’t be prosecuted? I’m going to have a couple of really second thoughts here. One is that next time I’m in a situation like this I’m certainly going to seek independent counsel. But another is, my God, four more years becomes even more important to me and to Ashcroft and to Rumsfeld. Gonzalez specifically warns that who knows, some future administration or some future group might sue you for violating the Geneva Conventions. And not only the Geneva Conventions but to the degree that they are embedded in this US law of 1996, and so you’re really, we have a strong basis in law but we can’t exclude the possibility. So four more years? Why do I say all this? I say all this because I am more frightened now than at any time over the last three and a half years, that this administration will resort to extra-legal methods to do something to ensure that there are four more years for George Bush. And Ashcroft’s statement last week, gratuitous statement, uncoordinated with the department of, CIA, with the Department of Homeland Security, his warning that there is bound to be a terrorist strike before the US elections. That can be viewed and this can be reasonably viewed as the opening salvo in the justification for doing, taking measures to ensure that whatever happens in November comes out so that four more years can be devoted to maybe changing that war crimes act or protecting at least these vulnerable people for four more years.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/03/1626202