Tenet's Departure Changes Little

By David Paul Kuhn,
CBSNews.com Chief Political Writer

Tenet said he was standing down for personal reasons. His leaving will certainly not mute President Bush's critics. With three governmental reports scheduled to be released this summer, all said to be highly critical of the CIA's handling of pre-Sept. 11 attack intelligence, Tenet's resignation may serve as a preemptive acknowledgment of responsibility.

The second longest-serving CIA chief in history, Tenet was named to the post by President Bill Clinton in July 1997. But he became a household name under President Bush.

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, brought the covert spy agency to the forefront of public attention. George Tenet became larger than his office.

Tenet was the emblem for American espionage although he only controlled the budget for one of a dozen U.S. intelligence agencies. For this reason, criticism of intelligence related to Iraq and the Sept. 11 attacks befell Tenet both for what he could control and what he could not.

On the political front, Tenet's resignation, announced Thursday, will probably not hurt Mr. Bush at the polls. At best for Democrats, he will be a point in their larger argument that the president mishandled the war in Iraq, and by extension, the war on terror.

"I don't think this is a matter where somebody leaves and the perception of Bush changes. I mean the perception of Bush has been changing for months now," said Tad Devine, the chief strategist for John Kerry's presidential campaign. "I don't think it accelerates [the perception of Mr. Bush] dramatically but it contributes to it, without a doubt."

In the past year, being the public face of the intelligence community has backfired for Tenet. His departure had been widely anticipated following the intelligence community's failure to prevent (or predict) the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. That combined with the botched CIA estimates of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, only further fueled critics.

"You are starting to see a crystallization of public opinion of either [the war in Iraq] was a mistake to begin with or maybe it was the right thing to do but it has been completely botched up," said Charles Cook, editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. "Between those two viewpoints it was starting to hit critical mass. So they needed to do something to shake it up."

But the president had stood behind Tenet. A fiercely loyal leader, the president supported Tenet as criticism of the CIA director mounted over his analysis of intelligence related to Iraqi weapons.

Most damning was a quote Bob Woodward reported in his book, "Plan of Attack." The book claims that prior to the Iraq war, Tenet told President Bush that evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction was "a slam dunk."

Tenet never publicly disputed Woodward's account. Weapons of mass destruction were the Bush administration's prime justification for the war. They have yet to be found.

To the CIA director's critics, Tenet let policy shape intelligence instead of letting intelligence shape policy – a charge Tenet fiercely denies.

But even as criticism rose, Tenet remained respected for his efforts to rebuild a decaying U.S. intelligence community, which had been withering since the end of the Cold War.

Tenet was especially emotional Thursday – eyes red, voice choking, pausing at times to compose himself – as he told CIA employees of his resignation. "It's the best job in the world," he often said. But it is also exhausting and Tenet had led the agency through some its most trying times. Thursday, speaking of his family, it was clear Tenet was tired.

President Bush said Thursday that Tenet had done "a superb job on behalf of the American people."

Despite the backing of the president for months, Tenet's resignation seemed all but certain – a question of when, not if. He had offered to step down once before. Mr. Bush did not accept, then. But Wednesday night, in a 45-minute private meeting, the president said yes. Indications are that Mr. Bush had little choice. No one expected Tenet to stay on if Mr. Bush was reelected.

"I don't know why Tenet has resigned, but I can tell you that the takeover of the CIA by the Defense Department and falling into the hands of Chalabi, it's been a disgrace," said Professor Elaine Kamarck, a public policy lecturer at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. "This is one of the most disgraceful episodes in American politics. It's right up there with the Nixon administration.

"You have to get your sense of outrage up about this," Kamarck added, citing the Pentagon's increased role in intelligence under the Bush administration. "But clearly, it's too profound to be part of the campaign. It's part of the United States of America. It's the backdrop for the campaign. But Kerry is too smart to politicize something like this."

Devine, the Kerry strategist, agreed and said the campaign will not try to gain political advantage from Tenet's resignation. He said there will be no mention of it in Kerry's advertising.

"It is not a stand-alone event," he added. "But if other episodes contribute to this sense that the president is not doing the job the way they want him to do it, then I think it will be a moment that will be remembered."

In Kerry's statement Thursday he wrote, "[Tenet] has worked extremely hard on behalf of our nation, and we are grateful for his effort... [But] there have been significant intelligence failures, and the administration has to accept responsibility for those failures."

Tenet will serve until mid-July. At that point his deputy, John McLaughlin, will become the acting director.

Former CIA agent and Army Intelligence officer Rep. Porter Goss, R-FL, was immediately mentioned in Washington circles as the most likely nominee to replace Tenet. Some speculation is that ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is also a possibility.

Expected to run for office again, the positioning of Giuliani at the CIA may also serve to take the liberal Republican off-track to eventually run for the White House himself. Heading the CIA has long been considered a deathblow to Oval Office hopes. Yet, former President George H.W. Bush did beat the trend.

Regardless, McLaughlin will likely serve through the election year. As the campaign heats up, Senate confirmation hearings would not bode well for this administration. Not replacing Tenet prior to the presidential election takes his resignation out of this campaign.

"From a political election standpoint I just don't know that it has any impact unless there is something else to it," said Ed Goes, a veteran Republican strategist.

It is unclear if other administration officials will resign as well. Tenet's leaving may mean Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will stay on through the presidential term, despite rampant criticism in Congress and the media. It would be too politically dangerous to have two senior defense officials leave the administration so close to Election Day.

But who knows, Cook said, "You throw one to the wolves and you see if that feeds their appetite," he added.

"Things had gotten pretty bad for the president," Cook continued. "They needed to do something. Iraq has turned into disaster and it's like a baseball team that is in a slump, whether a manager is a problem or not, sometimes you have to fire the manager."
By David Paul Kuhn