Comments on: Don't Pity George Tenet

National Review Online: Uproar Over Misquote Is Misguided; Tenet Deserves Blame For CIA Failures

[joenc-2009]

Its starting to look like every right-wing neocon conservative is playing pin the tale on every other right-wing, neocon, conservative.

:-)

Back in 2002-2003, they were getting carpel-tunnel syndrome patting each other on the back.

Now, they're all auditioning for SPEED 4: Reality edition ... Where the winner throws everyone else under the bus.

My money is on Bushjaya.

[ammianus]

The Sorrows of Young Dumus, Art. XVIII:
Thousands died when both the commercial and the administrative capitals of the Hegemon were attacked (A.J. 6715, 23 Lo:os) and now Dumas could play the conquering hero. Ibn Shaitan had hid in the Ghaznavid territories, a guest of the government of Omar who offended the decency of mankind by his oppressions. Thus the subjugation of that country could be effected with some semblance of justice. However, sacrificing his pride to the vain hope of survival, Omar offered to deliver the person of ibn Shaitan. As this would set in train the ruin of Dumus, he spurned the offer and erased all public record of it. Dumus launched an aerial assault that quickly overwhelmed Omar with an indiscriminate slaughter. Of necessity, Dumus pretended to hunt for ibn Shaitan. But as the ring of encirclement was about to close, Vulturinus entrusted the mouth of the trap to known adherents of Omar who escorted ibn Shaitan safely to the mountains of Kafiristan. Success seemed complete: While seeming to pursue him, Dumus had avoided the capture of ibn Shaitan and his escape could be plausibly explained; Hegemon troops garrisoned the country and a route of attack was opened on Persia to the west. However, the Ghaznavids soon compared the effete brutality of the Hegemon to the rough virtues of their countrymen. The puppet government in Kabul reigned there and nowhere else. The fanatic followers of Omar nursed their wounds and recruited their strength.

[ammianus]

The Sorrows of Young Dumus, Art. XX:
Successful crime knows nothing of satiety. Both the exhilarating momentum of conquest, and the need to distract the populace from the escape of ibn Shaitan demanded the subjugation of Mesopotamia. In this adventure, the Oligarchs inflexibly pursued two paramount objectives. The first of these was the establishment of a docile client state firmly garrisoned by the Hegemon in the very heart of Dar al-Islam. The second object, urged in part by the thirst for more energy resources (Art.XI), was the complete control of the wealth of the country by the Oligarchy. No sacrifice of the populace, however bloody, and no crime, however brutal, would deter the Oligarchs from these goals. But at the outset, Mesopotamia appeared as a rich fruit, ripe for the plucking. The tyrant, Nur ud Din, had made himself odious to mankind by his blatant cruelties. The strangulation of Mesopotamia by the elder Dumus had impoverished the country and rendered it defenseless, while its reserves of hydrocarbon energy resources were second only to the House of Saaud. Even better, the land could be exploited as a royal demesne with much of the public revenue diverted to the imperial clique of Dumus. The gold, thus plundered, fed a cloud of delators, worm-tongues, and agents of provocation; all dedicated to the extinction of the last embers of freedom within the Hegemon. As a final advantage, Persia could be attacked from the west as well as from the north and east.

[ajmarine1]

He was the #1 man when it came to giving intelligent reports to the White House; if he was telling them one thing, and they were saying another, he should have resigned then, not write a book about it 6 years later.

The NRO would, of course, jump all over Tenet for misleading hair-trigger Bush and Cheney, but it was obvious in the interview that the White House had already made up its mind to invade Iraq, even cutting short the U.N. inspectors from carrying out their inspections. Obviously, our intrepid leader did not like the fact that the U.N. was not finding weapons of mass destruction and decided instead to invade right away. It doesn't take a genius to see that this Administration was determined to attack Iraq, and all but pathetic apologists for the Bush Administration know it.

[katg21]

Maybe neither Clinton nor Bush lied about WMD, maybe they were both misled by this idiot.

...
Posted by processor2 at 03:27 PM : Apr 30, 2007

Yes, it may be true but there's no way the dems are going to agree that Clinton was anything but perfect.

[gkc99]

Tenet twisting slowly, slowly in the wind . . . poor baby. Let me get my crying towel.

May the next sacrifice be Darth Chickenshit.

[processor2]

George Tenet was a Clinton appointee and was kept by Bush.

That would explain why BOTH PRESIDENTS Clinton & Bush went on TV explaining Hussein was "developing Weapons of Mass Destruction"

Maybe neither Clinton nor Bush lied about WMD, maybe they were both misled by this idiot.

...

[vet_sk]

"...as he said, it would have been crazy to send Colin Powell with to the U.N. if the claims Powell made weren't thought to be true."

In this comment, Tenet just admitted to another lie by himself and the administration. Colin Powell's former chief of staff wrote that the night before Colin said, "I can't presenet this *** [before the UN]." He did and that makes him a criminal too.

Why is it that just because the Constitution give the president the power to appoint his secretaries (with advise and consent of the senate) that they believe that they have to go along with the party line of the white house. They serve the constitution and the people - not the president. Another question for current presidential candidates; how much of lease will the president hold over their secretaries.

[macusweil]

"Tenet is now engaged in a classic instance of self-serving Beltway memoir-writing, settling scores against *** Cheney and the "neocons" who were allegedly impervious to the facts so diligently assembled by the CIA."

NRO is 100% correct this time around!!

During the period in question there is no reason Tenet should not have come out and exposed the charade. We now know from the Downing Street minutes clearly state that Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action regardless of the truth. The neo.con plan was to justify their illegal invasion by linking Iraq to terrorism and WMDs. Insiders all knew the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy.

[vet_sk]

How these high level officials, who were so wrong {no not wrong, but liars for their own cause for war to get GWB reelected} stay out of trouble? It is like playing the stock market for them: you lose one, you lose another ...who cares because it is someone elses money (kids).

Remove Tenet's medal of freedom (which is now considered a joke of a medal) his pension and his freedom. Isn't the lying of a public official a crime? This should be just start: Condi, Cheney, Rums. and Bush are criminals.

[tejasdemo]

They fired 8 of their own U.S. attorneys for not hounding Democrats.

Is there anyone out there dumb enough to think they're not ruthless cut throat partisan hacks?
Posted by marcodele at 02:13 PM : Apr 30, 2007

****
NO ! Republicans would sell their mothers up the river. What a pathetic bunch.

[roger_inkart]

From the article:

"The fundamental problem wasn't that the administration wanted to go beyond the intelligence, but that the intelligence itself was flawed."

You're kidding. All those neo-cons who were drooling over the idea of a pliable White House dummy, eager to invade Iraq, were somehow just duped by bad intel? Who are you trying to kid (besides the other deluded, out-of-touch Bush zealots that is?)

[roger_inkart]

Tenet was never a neo-con. He saw himself as a survivor and was trying to please his the new bosses by telling them what wanted to hear. He knew what they intended. He knew what was going on.

He's just a weak-willed shell of a man. He had his chance to stand up, resign and go public with any doubts he had. Instead he helped the Bush administration's insane drive to the war.

If he had any honor he would return the Medal of Freedom he receieved.

[toldyouso21]

"As for President Bush's controversial 16 words about the British learning that Saddam sought uranium from Niger, Tenet didn't bother to read the State of the Union speech before it was delivered, and so didn't advise the White House to keep them out."

Stop right there O LYING right wing rag--the Administration was warned about the veracity of the yellowcake as far back as 2002 from Italy, Germany and the UN--the same is true about the mobile biolabs--Bush was told Curve ball was delusional and decided to go with the intel anyway.

The fact is, after the yellowcake speech, Bush and co said a speech writer forgot to remove the information. The fact is, 2 weeks BEFORE the speech, The White house admitted receiving a letter from the CIA forwarded from Italy about the lies of the yellowcake--so Tenet did not have to read the speech--because the President already had been briefed several times over the months from several sources.

The problem with "facts" in the so called post tv/news world is that we can get information from a variety of sources--often before the MSM reports it and that, after the fact--no matter what is deleted or rewritten--some of us got the old news and followed the bread crumbs. If you want to talk about credibility--not only does Bush have none and Tenet very little--this rag has lost its own as well.

[marcodele]

They fired 8 of their own U.S. attorneys for not hounding Democrats.

Is there anyone out there dumb enough to think they're not ruthless cut throat partisan hacks?

[hangbush]

Wow, NeoCon attacking one of its own!! What gives??
Let's see, oh because he was trying to protect his own hide? WOW! It shows how vicious the Republicans are when they feel threatened. They would even try to gang up on one of its own. What does that tell you of average american voter who they obviously have no interest in?

[marcodele]

"Tenney, you're doing a heck of a job."

[cburn665]

Mr. Tenet should be stripped of the medal which apparently was some sort of pay-off from Mr. Bush.

What a crook!

[marcodele]

Typical neocon reaction: attack the messenger, ignore the message.

We're lucky someone like Tenet is willing to speak out, criticize, and help us learn from our mistakes. With the Sopranos running the country, I'd be afraid to.