ex-CIA Officer Drumheller: "Bush administration came into office with the idea of attacking Iraq"

[understandinglife]

Correcting the Record

by Tyler Drumheller

As people read through George Tenet's "At the Center of the Storm" I hope the basic errors and misstatements of fact do not detract from the most important point, that the Bush administration came into office with the idea of attacking Iraq and they proceeded to misuse and manipulate intelligence to support their preconceived views, both before and after 9/11.

The problem for George is that he was not a peripheral player, he was"at the center of the storm" but apparently stood by as the Vice President, Secretary of Defense and others led the country into an ill conceived, ill planned war of choice. He was, after all DCI and as such had the responsibility for how intelligence was being used. I will not pretend to understand why he stood by when he knew what was at stake and had his own questions about the entire affair. In the end, although he served in many senior staff jobs, he was ill prepared to deal with the great crisis of his professional career. Taking lines out of individual presidential speeches and stopping one of many questionable speeches by the Vice President, simply does cut it when balanced against standing by as the country moved toward war.

Through his actions and inaction, George allowed the administratioen to pick and chose intelligence to fit their views, and to make matters worse he and his deputy, John Mclaughlin, were aware of the fact that key pieces of intelligence were flawed and should not be used in the decision making process. This includes not only the now infamous Curveball case, but other pieces of intelligence that are still classified and can not be openly discussed. As you have said, Larry, the standard for reporting to support the administration position was extremely low, while anything questioning the administration poistion was held to an extremely high standard of proof.

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The run up to the war on Iraq is a complicated and murky picture and it is important to remain focused on the main; the policy on Iraq was set by political leaders in the administration who then picked and chose intelligence, no matter what the source, to support their position. George's role is equally complicated and in the end sad, as only he knows how he was able to stand by while the matter moved toward war.

More at Larry Johnson's blog: http://noquarter.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/05/correcting_a_ge.html

Larry comments on Tyler Drumheller -- "I received the following tonight from Tyler Drumheller, a recently retired CIA officer. His book, , is an important contribution to the history of our misguided war in Iraq. Tyler has first hand knowledge of George Tenet's self-delusion and dissembling about his role in helping lead the march to war. It provides an important correction to the spin of George Tenet."

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

1. I am amazed every day that they let him

walk around and breathe still.

[understandinglife]

2. "If you missed Ty Drumheller on Nightline ..." then check this ...

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2007/5/1/103026/6659/6#c6


IT IS TRIBUNAL TIME IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

[understandinglife]

3. "The problem is, the honorable train left the station a long time ago, and Tenet wasn't on board."

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So here is a plea to all Bush administration officials: Now is the time. If, like John Brady Kiesling, you're finding it hard to reconcile what you see going on around you with what you know to be the truth, do the right thing and resign. While it matters.

As Tenet says on 60 Minutes: "At the end of the day, the only thing you have is trust and honor in this world. It's all you have. All you have is your reputation built on trust and your personal honor. And when you don't have that anymore, well, there you go."

George Tenet and I are both Greek and there is a great word for it: .

There are still lives to be saved if a few administration officials have the guts to do what they know is right now -- instead of five years from now while flogging their books.

Any takers?

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/why-didnt-george-tenet-j_b_47226.html

Any .... ???


Peace.

[understandinglife]

4. Jane Hamsher: "Every word out of his mouth reeked of self-serving lies."

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One might be tempted to cheer as he moves Hitchens to paroxysms of blustering rage, but his performance on 60 Minutes the other night was so loathsome, so thoroughly oily and vile that there is absolutely nothing to recommend the man. He managed to deny that the US engaged in torture and pat himself on the back for being macho enough to order it at the same time. Every word out of his mouth reeked of self-serving lies.

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Yep.


Peace.

[DemReadingDU]

5. morning kick