Former CIA Director Says Tenet Was Forced Out

[DemBones DemBones]

I saw this live on CNN, as I'm sure many of you did, but for the cube rats
(hi, guys!) and others, here it is from the NY Times:

QUOTE

Mr. Bush announced the resignation in a way that was almost bizarre. He had just addressed reporters and photographers in a fairly innocuous Rose Garden session with Australia's prime minister, John Howard. . . BLAH BLAH

But minutes later, Mr. Bush reappeared on the sun-drenched White House lawn, stunning listeners with the news of Mr. Tenet's resignation, which the president said would be effective in mid-July. . . BLAH BLAH

Then Mr. Bush walked away, declining to take questions or offer any insight into what Mr. Tenet's personal reasons might be.

The official announcement was unconvincing to a former C.I.A. chief, Stansfield Turner, who held the post under President Jimmy Carter.

Mr. Turner said the resignation is "too significant a move at too important a time" to be inspired by nothing more than personal considerations.

"I think he's being pushed out," Mr. Turner said in an interview on CNN. "The president feels he has to have someone to blame."

Mr. Turner went on, "I don't think he would pull the plug on President Bush in the midst of an election cycle without being asked by President Bush to do that."

END QUOTE

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/03/international/middleeast/02CND-TENE.html?hp

Turner said more, though I can't recall if there was anything terribly important in what they left out here. Of course I believe he's right. The timing is very suspicious.


This is DemBones, reporting live from home. Back to you.

[THUNDER HANDS]

1. he's almost right

Bush didn't force him out. Rove did.

[Tellurian]

31. Look at the spin source...CNN-NYT

When did either one ever tell it like it is?

I say he left, he quit, he ran out of the asylum
running for his life!

[0007]

34. God, don't mix the times with cnn

Granted there are a few bad writers at the times. More good than bad, 'eh? You must mean the Washington Times.

[Tellurian]

35. I've never read a complimentary article about Kerry in the NYT..

so, I guess, I mean the NYT...

[goforit]

52. Yes he does mean the NYT......Schizophrenia journalism 24/7

The NYT since the 1st 6 months of W's office has printed alot
of bias reports for the Neo-cons and occassionally the real stuff
that has been painted real good...if you catch my drift.

What is so fun about this propaganda crap is being able to read
between the lines.
(I haven't been wrong yet)

LOL!!!

[0007]

65. cough cough

[Just Me]

2. "Revelations",...so quickly? Well, "BRING 'EM ON"!!!! eom

[displacedtexan]

3. Bush* looked too rattled for this to be true, IMHO.

Did you see Bush* this morning when he made the announcement? He didn't look like someone who had "pushed Tenet out."

[Eurobabe]

4. I felt that too, Bu$h looked like the rug was pulled out from

under him.

[mark414]

7. he always looks like that

he doesn't have a clue

[callous taoboy]

13. * always reminds me

of my uncle who died of alcoholism. I loved my uncle dearly so I draw this comparison with hesitation. But *, like my uncle, always seems aphasic, a bit bewildered, an intense determination to remember what he's said or what the facts are.

[Love Bug]

19. You don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but

did your uncle suffer from alcoholic dementia? My ex brother-in-law has it and those symptoms sound very much like that.

Of course, the real question is-- does * suffer from alcoholic dementia?

[callous taoboy]

26. My uncle

definitely had dementia. Last time I saw him he was consuming two full tumblers of scotch before lunch, then many more afterward. He would get teary-eyed and start sobbing over the most insignificant of things. Same with my aunt. She didn't seem to recognize me most of the time during the week I was there. They both died in their early 70's.

I believe that * does suffer from some sort of dementia. I don't buy it when people say he's an idiot. You don't fail your way up the ladder as he has done without some sort of savy at the least. No, when * speaks it is obvious that the boy ain't right.

[SammyWinstonJack]

63. bush* "failed" his way up the ladder not with "savy", rather with

family money and family power! And bush* is an idiot! Dementia not withstanding!

[goforit]

54. (Hiccup.)............Who's that Tenent guy?

[Dover]

22. ROFL!

Born looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Guilty conscience, most likely.

[KoKo]

57. He looked a bit "teary." He did! Like any man does trying to cover up

emotion. I wondered if he realized this is the "beginning of the end" for him, also. well....I hope it's the beginning of the end. One never knows with those things which refuse to die, unless a stake is driven, like vampires.

[Barrett808]

5. Reminded me of Reagan announcing the "resignation" of Ed Meese

After the Wedtech scandal.

[maggrwaggr]

8. I agree. He looked pretty shaken.

but maybe that's because he was obviously speaking off the cuff.

Then again, the fact that he WAS speaking off the cuff about something that was such a big deal is, well, a big deal.

[Gemini Cat]

9. That's because Tenet knows where the bodies are.

A lot of which have been placed there by bush.

[LiberalFighter]

25. I hope Tenet is a patriot...

and exposes everyone in the administration

[goforit]

56. Hmmmmmmmm..................

[Nlighten1]

12. I didn't see him but I heard him on NPR...

and I could hear it in his voice that he was shakey. This could be good news.

[H2O Man]

15. You are right, displacedtexan!

Take it a step further: bush had been doing the mini-press conference about 1 hour earlier. Over-all, he did well, by his standards. But look closely at the last question: bush starts to answer, but comes to a confused halt in mid-sentence, shakes his head, and then ends the conference. He stares for a moment at his counter-part in the conference, clearly in need of some type of support. I was wondering what that was about, until I saw him announce that Tenet was leaving. He looked like the wind had been knocked out of him. As you noted, he was rattled. This is a man who feels his grasp of control loosening, and there isn't anything he can do about it. People who are "control freaks" have pretty transparent body language. Bush is not feeling in control.

[Mandate My Ass]

29. Plus he's off to Europe with this steaming pile left behind

Bush lawyering up for the Plame affair.

Chalabi as a double agent? :dunce:

Chalabi publicly badmouthing Tenet. OMFG, the guy is such a blatant sleazeball assclown that he would have been given his walking papers ages ago by anybody but the Mayberry Machiavellis.

His director of intelligence jumping ship while Iraq burns just months before the presidential elections.

It's not like he was going to look statesmanlike over there, especially with opening his piehole comparing Iraq to WWII after explicitly being asked not to by the French, but current events illustrate what a major-league f**kup he truly is.

A lot of people here think Tenet is falling on his sword. I think it's just the opposite.

[pacifictiger]

23. maybe Bush didn't push him out

but whoever's pulling Bush's strings pushed him out, and that's why he looked so wigged out.

[Blue_Roses]

37. I agree...he actually looked like he was gonna cry

I don't think he was pushed out. I think he's had enough.

[tlcandie]

44. Probably because of the lashing he could expect from dear old

Poppy and Mommy...

[goforit]

53. You mean an emperor without clothes?...........Ouch!!

[psychopomp]

55. video link at CSPAN.org n/t

[Demonaut]

6. Tenet will now be vilified by the repuke house and senate members

the repukes never trusted him, for that matter nor do I

[MaineDem]

10. Tim Russert said...

I know I know, don't shoot me.

But Russert said that this was bad timing for Bush. Going overseas like this Bush would want the focus to be on him and not on what was happening back in DC. The heads of state he'll be meeting with will want to know what's going on with the American Intelligence agencies and Bush would prefer the discussion be about him and the meetings themselves.

[Walt Starr]

27. Could be cover

Nobody will see the masses of European protests or the mistakes he makes while there.

:shrug:

[goforit]

60. And will those heads of state be able to ...trust W ?

Ugly situation!

[alittlelark]

11. Perhaps * looked 'rattled' because Tenet did INDEED choose to leave

and, after he puts his safety apparatus in gear, will out * and his minions. Tenet seems a mighty smart dude IMHO.

[damnraddem]

36. Maybe Dubya was just shocked at ...

the prices quoted for putting out a 'contract' on Tenant before Tenant can "tell all."

[goforit]

61. Ouch!!

[davidinalameda]

14. of course he was forced out

and I'm sure that his is the first head to roll

there will be more

[yardwork]

16. I think it is the other way around.

Tenet stepped down voluntarily because he's getting ready to give evidence against the Chimp administration. He can't be loyal to his employer and simultaneously tell the truth under oath.

Once Tenet steps down he no longer has an employer. Mid-July is the same time that the 9/11 report is due.

- Plame
- 9/11
- Chalabi and Iran code scandal
- WMD

And more. Tenet will be a free agent, and he'll likely be called to testify under oath.

If I were BushCo I'd be packing my bags and planning to get out of town.

[LiberalFighter]

30. How fast can Tenet get a book out?

[havocmom]

33. ding ding ding We have a winner! Your analysis makes much sense.

Tenet seems very professional, something the malAdministration doesn't understand.

There is much they don't understand.
Heading the list:
1)Truth
2)Justice
3)the American way
4)the fact that there are people who not only believe in the above, but
find the above to be worth working for with honor and dignity.
The malAdministration thinks everyone is as vile as they are. They think everyone has a price. They think they hold all the cards. They are seriously mistaken. And they have picked a fight with the wrong crowd.

[goforit]

62. WOW!!!...........I like the way you talk. Money can't buy everything , eh?

I hope to God you're right!!!

[peterh]

38. Hmmmm….you may be on to something….

No advanced word, yet not a surprise…..the fact that the twit appeared shaken and now has a private lawyer…..hmmmm….you may be on to something…..



DJ White House:Bush Had No Advance Word Of Tenet Resignation

ROME (Dow Jones)--President George W. Bush had no advance word that CIA
Director George Tenet intended to resign when he met with Tenet on Wednesday
evening, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Thursday.
However, McClellan declined to say whether it was a surprise that Tenet had
decided to step down.
Tenet called White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card on Wednesday afternoon and
requested a meeting with both Card and the president later in the day, McClellan
told reporters riding on Air Force One. At the time of the phone call, Bush was
delivering a speech at the commencement ceremonies at the Air Force Academy in
Colorado.
After Bush arrive back at the White House shortly before 7:00 p.m. EDT
Wednesday, he met with Tenet for approximately 45 minutes in the White House
residence.
<snip>
Asked if the resignation came as a surprise, McClellan chose his words
carefully.
"I don't know if I'd look at it that way. I think he (Bush) understood the
reasons why the Director had made the decision to resign. And, again, he
appreciates his service very much," McClellan said.
McClellan also declined to say whether Bush would have been happy to see Tenet
remain in his post.
<snip>

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
06-03-04 1455ET(AP-DJ-06-03-04 1855GMT)

[Just Me]

39. I think you maybe spot on but we'll just have to see what happens.

Could be all of us here at DU will have a great deal to celebrate in the near future.

:toast:

[yellowcanine]

17. Timing is all wrong for it to be a forced resignation. This will now

overshadow Shrub's big D-Day trip. Normally an announcement like this would come on a Friday night at the beginning of a long holiday weekend (such as last weekend) - preferably when Shrub is "clearing brush" on his "ranch" in Crawford. Rove and Hughes have lost control of the PR game. Events have now taken over. Something big is going down. I think it is either related to Chalabi or the Plame affair. This would be a good time for Colin Powell to bail out as well.

[Algomas]

21. Hahahahahahaaaa!

It is a beautiful sight to see the mask slipping from Chimpy's face. All the rats are looking for space in the life-boats now. What a wonderful thing for democracy if this presidency is held totally accountable for their treasonous actions and not swept under the carpet. The crimes are so huge that there may indeed be a full accounting.
Bring it on!

[goforit]

64. Is this all a dream?

If it is real......I advise everyone to ...
Duck and cover.

We have the wrong people in charge of the red button.

[H2O Man]

18. I don't believe bush forced him out. But:

that does not mean that other forces in the administration did not play a role in trying to get him out. And those forces could be motivated by either "pro-" or "anti-" bush interests.

[TahitiNut]

20. This is not good for the Busholinis, no matter how you look at it.

I think there's a bit of truth in several interpretations. While I believe the Busholini Regime "pushed him out," I don't believe it was foreseen that he'd leave at this time. It's no secret that Rumsfeld covets the power of the CIA and resents not having total political control over it. Since day one, Rumsfeld has formed an intelligence "skunk works" in the DoD and populated it with the most extreme neocons: Wolfowitz, Perle, Feith, Cambone, General Boykin, et. al. I have no reasonable doubt that OSP/DIA fertilized Chalabi and harvested the neocon-serving 'disinformation' Chalabi provided - deliberately designed to please the people who were buying it. I have little doubt that Tenet was pretty much sneered at as a regime outsider prior to 9/11 when the regime was preparing the LIHOP, threatening the Taliban and pushing for the pipeline, and preparing for an invasion of Iraq.

The Busholini Regime has wanted the CIA to bear the burdens of their political failures, failures of greed, lust for power, and myopic obsessions. The arm-twisting and coercion of the CIA to "tune" the justifications and rationalizations for invading Iraq were evident. I think the CIA has a difficult time dealing openly and honestly with such blame, since they cannot be overtly political. I think Tenet could only go so far. I think today was that limit.

I don't believe the CIA is monolithic. I believe the majority of these people are apolitical authoritarians. At the same time, I believe there're covens of highly political insiders ("true believers") going back to the Dulles days and nurtured during the GHWB days. I think Tenet finally said "fuck it" as his son enters his senior year in high school, the last year he'd be at home. I think dealing with the Busholini Regime finally became "not worth it."


BushJr hisself? DimSon is NEVER in control. He's beyond his depth when it's ankle-deep. I can't imagine the unbelievable frustration of being a CIA Director and having to deal with DimSon.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

24. Add to that the fact that Tenet is undergoing mutiny in the CIA by those

that feel slighted and betrayed by the neo-cons and who WARNED that the focus should have been on North Korea and Iraq in the first place...and you've got one exasperated fellow...but then again..I didn't read the whole thread..I just came straight to your post to see what you were thinking.

[TahitiNut]

45. Yes, by most of the CIA folks. But there are some ...

... who tattle to daddy and are a thorn in Tenets butt. Tenet had/has the full support of operations, but part of the analysis folks are Dulles/GHWB inheritors. I really think its a major error in reasoning to habitually regard the CIA as monolithic. Just because it's an opaque agency isn't an excuse to disregard intense internal politics and schisms. The neofascist reichwing truly believes that intelligence's job is to do "evidence collecting" -- only that which helps rationalize their embedded rabid beliefs: dogmatism. (They're a bit like Pope Innocent killing scientists that don't conform to dogma. This is the inherent evil that's dogma.)

[calimary]

40. Question: there's speculation whether Tenet quit or actually got fired -

If he'd been fired, wouldn't he be just plain ol' OUT? In this situation, however, he's gonna be around until, I think, July? Doesn't that indicate more of a resignation?

Man - I'm just on overwhelm with all this right now...

[TahitiNut]

43. I think it's "face-saving" ...

... and is almost religiously adhered to for executive-level people. It's done as much to maintain the loyalty of other agency heads and cabinet-level people as for Tenet himself. Executives won't put up with a CEO that treats them like the "ordinary" employee (hoi polloi) and walks them to the door like they're criminals.

In a very real sense, Tenet is gone. Pragmatically, he'll be supporting the acting director, answering any questions, briefing him on stuff he's been "compartmentalized" from seeing, etc.

Lets' remember that Time (May 31) reported that the Senate Intelligence Committee report (9/11 whitewash) is forecast to be extremely scathing regarding the CIA. Tenet saw a final draft since it's a CIA function to review such reports for classified material.

I think the Senate is playing along with the charade (seeing it as the best political alternative) that blames Tenet for the Busholini regime's marginalization of anything having to do with terrorism pre-9/11. Tenet got caught "serving two masters": (1) his own honesty (2) his overstretched loyalty to the Presidency. I think he deludedly thought he could be a "good team player" and keep some honesty at the same time.

Quite frankly, I think the Busholinis kept him (a Clinton appointee, gods forbid!) around to be a fall guy from the very outset. After all, everything they've done is consistent with various AEI, PNAC, and Heritage Foundation papers that've been available for years. (A little like Hitler was pretty predictable based on Mein Kampf.) Remember, these people detest the Clinton Administration and anyone associated with it with an almost foamy-mouthed fervor. (There's no other explaining keeping him around with a cabal that coveted the intelligence agency power.)

[calimary]

46. Intriguing. Thanks. LOTS of Monday-morning quarterbacking to be

expected on ALL these mornings coming up, methinks.

Do you suppose there's anything to the Randi Rhodes speculation (toward the bottom of this thread) that Tenet dropped a Chalabi bomb before he left?

They're spinning like crazy on CNN about how everybody's hoping that Tenet's departure will help remove some headaches, especially as bush starts his meetings overseas. I can see how that would be expected. Interesting to think of him being kept on as a potential fall guy. Wouldn't surprise me, considering how calculating these people are. Many people have speculated that bush kept Tenet close (like you keep your friends close but your enemies closer) because he knew where so many bodies are buried, including bodies that might be connected to some bush business.

Like I said earlier, I'm truly on overwhelm about this. FASCINATING time to be living through, I'll tell ya.

[goforit]

66. LOL!!!....Yah , you got a handle on it......

I agree that tenent was being crushed from all sides.

But one thing is for certain.....

Those guys(agents) are toooo smart(street smart)to be brought
down to the neo-con level.
They will have one angle up on them.

[Dover]

28. Don't forget that Chalabi's office raid might have yielded some VERY

interesting information on various people (which he had purporedly gathered in order to manipulate others). If any of that is true, and Tenet is in possession of it, then he may have resigned in order to create distance from the Admin before lowering the boom.

I thought it was interesting that Al Gore 'recommended' that his friend G. Tenet resign....along with the others.

I'm just guessing that the real shit is about to hit the fan on the Bush cabal as all the various loose investigative threads get woven together and pulled tight like a noose.

I can hope.

[Samantha]

51. You are the first person I have encountered today to make the connection

between Gore's speech and Tenet's resignation. Perhaps there is no connection, but that certainly was the first thing I thought about when I heard the news today. Gore made a point of saying he respected Tenet, that the two of them were friends, but the resignations of the six people he named were necessary to lessen the threat to the American people, now less secure due to the actions of the people whose resignations Gore demanded.

I believe the two really are friends. I also believe Tenet is a man of integrity who could no longer be pulled between the conflicting responsibilities of remaining loyal to the occupant of the Oval Office and protecting the institution of the CIA as well as the safety of the American people. By his resignation, he made his choice.

I find it very ironic that we have heard nothing but Iraq and Chalabi today. I believe Tenet is extremely upset over the leaking of Plame's name and knows Bush* is directly involved. It would be impossible to protect the security of the CIA agents while remaining loyal to a superior who today is being discussed as a potential co-conspirator to a felonious/treasonous act.

I also expect the responsibility for the acts of torture performed on Iraqi and other prisoners will now be laid at the foot of George Tenet. War crimes, felony leaks, potential acts of treason, failure to protect the American people from the 911 attacks -- all these recent scandals can now conveniently be blamed on one person -- George Tenet -- thus saving the political face of George Bush.* How convenient.

[Shakespeare]

32. I believe Stansfield Turner about as much as I'd believe Rove or Bush.

Which is to say, not at all. I also find Chalabi's claim that Tenet was the source of the link to be most curious. I smell a smear campaign, and I don't think Tenet was forced out.

[King of New Orleans]

41. Stansfield Turner is an advisor to Kerry

Doesn't mean you have to believe him or not, but he's one of the military guys who have signed onto Kerry's Advisory board.

[Shakespeare]

49. I'm aware of that.

I'm a 100% Kerry supporter, but I still don't like Turner. I know of him from WAY back, and don't like him or trust him. I hope he gives Kerry good advice, but I have no use for him.

[Gloria]

42. Randi Rhodes said that before he left, Tenet dropped a "bomb"

about Chalabi. So, whatever the reason he's gone, he did leave a stench behind for Bush. Randi thinks he "had enough" and this was his parting gift.

You have to admit, the timing is very odd. Why would Bush dump him just as he is going to Europe to try to "mend fences." Seems to me, this resignation will be at the top of the conversations over there. I heard Bush's comments and he sounded pretty rattled and curt. Wonder what actually went on last night in the Oval office with Powell in there, too?

Curious about Powell now....he's been blaming the intelligence for his WMD lies.....what role did he have?

[pacifictiger]

47. I watched Tenet speak and wondered,

when he spoke about his family, if it could really be as simple as getting some sort of ultimatim from his wife? Personally or otherwise.
I read that she is involved with family advocacy for CIA families both domestically and abroad.

[daleo]

48. Tenant's speech had a couple of interesting features

I sort of half watched it, only, but a couple of points stood out (maybe these have been discussed in another thread, as I haven't had time to read everything):

- His opening joke, after the applause, was something like "it feels like a State of the Union Address". There may have been a veiled message to the Bush admin there, given the lies in Bush's SOTUs.
- He made a point of saying Bush was very involved with the CIA right from the get-go, and they had meetings every day. In other words, anything that gets pinned on the CIA will land right back in Bush's lap.
- His choice of tie colour (looked like pink to me) was interesting, although I don't know if it meant anything. Perhaps it was a signal to someone, though.

[Tight_rope]

50. I agree with Mr. Tunner!

Oh how convenient was it that George Tenet resign the same day that Bush leaves for Europe to try and get help in cleaning up his mess Iraq. What a perfect scapegoat for Bush to use Tenets resignation letter to say to France and Italy that, "Here look, it's not my fault, I was led astray. See, here's the letter to prove it, please believe me"!

I believe Bush whispered in Tenets ear, "Hey look man, we are all going down, but my family has always be corrupted and we know how to get out of messes like this, but You my friend will fall with no one to catch you"!

Bush is a ruthless tyrant. He is evil and must be destroyed.

[Insider]

58. favorite line:

"This is DemBones, reporting live from home. Back to you."

excellent

[Gloria]

59. I'm now thinking that the Bushitas planned to get rid of him when it

was convenient.......but Tenet took control and quit!!! With the latest stories about Chalabi and a possible role in the new gov't after all,
it seems that Tenet must have decided that it was time to stop being 'Loyal." As Randi Rhodes said today, "Bush chose Chalabi over the CIA."

And you have to wonder if Gore's call for him to resign...so different in tone from his naming of the others.....had something to do with it. Did Gore warn him about staying on too much longer with this mob??

With the agency in disarray, I think that there will be many more leaks that will further damage Bush....

[goforit]

67. Gore, hmmm....The real President sent the order, and Tenent saluted!!

Now this is a sign!!!!!

:bounce:

[Imperialism Inc.]

68. They always do what Gore tells them to do!!!

He told someone else to resign as well. Much earlier, though the name escapes me. An economic position of some kind. And he did!

[Heidi]

69. Is there a tally . . .

. . . of all the Bush administration "officials" (including military brass) who've resigned under pressure or been "reassigned" since the War on Terra began? I've looked around on DU, but can't find a running list anywhere.

[Tight_rope]

70. I smell Rove all over this!

Time: Person of the Week Karl Rove
Thursday, Nov. 07, 2002

The strategist behind Tuesday's GOP victory is also the man with the President's ear

snip~George W. Bush doesn't like to travel, and, by all accounts, he doesn't particularly like giving campaign speeches. But he did both until his throat was raw and his nerves frayed in the weeks leading up to Tuesday's elections. He did it because "Karl Rove" told him it was a good idea. And Tuesday night, voters across the country told the President that Rove was right.

snip~That kind of success is pretty much par for the course for Rove since he joined the Bush campaign in 2000. Rove is considered by both Democrats and Republicans to have one of the country's sharpest and most instinctive political minds. He has made plenty of enemies along his road to success; some say his personality, which is jovial at times, can turn nasty when he (or his candidate) is in trouble. "Others say he'll do just about anything to win".

more------------> http://www.time.com/time/pow/article/0,8599,388523,00.html

My take on this is that Rove told Bush to tell Tenet to resign. Let him be the scapegoat and take the fall for all the botched corruptions and scandals that went wrong. Bush can't even wipe his ass without the help of Rove!

Rove is a straight up street thug. Thugs like him "KNOW NO RULES"!. Rules don't exist in his book. :puke: :puke:

DON'T THEY KNOW GOD DON'T LIKE UGLY!!!:shrug:

Nothing good has come out of them "STEALING THE ELECTION"!