William Rivers Pitt: Down Goes Tenet

[Trajan]

Down Goes Tenet

By William Rivers Pitt
t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Friday 04 June 2004

The news over the last week or so has been grim for the White House. Ahmad Chalabi, Bush's favorite Iraqi, has been accused of passing high-level intelligence secrets to Iran. Questions as to who could have coughed up those secrets have been auguring towards Defense Department officials Douglas Feith and William Luti, the two men who ran the secretive Office of Special Plans (OSP).

The OSP, organized for the express purpose of massaging intelligence data on the threat posed by Iraq so as to justify the already-made war decision, was fueled in no small part by the data provided by Chalabi. This story unfolded under the deepening gloom of the Abu Ghraib torture scandal, which appears to be spreading far beyond Iraq, and threatens to subsume a number of high-ranking officials.

Late Wednesday night, a wire report appeared stating that George W. Bush was seeking legal advice on how to protect himself from the looming investigation into who in the White House outed the name of CIA agent Valerie Plame. According to the report, Bush was "ready to cooperate" with the investigation - an interesting comment, considering the fact that the investigation has been going on for months, and that his people have been stonewalling the investigation across the board. When the President needs a lawyer, it is usually a sign that there is blood in the water.

Then, on Thursday, CIA Director George Tenet resigned his position. The news was delivered by George W. Bush just before he boarded a plane to absorb a beating from our former European allies.

Whither goes Tenet? Why did he resign? The official version holds that he quit for "personal reasons," and has intended to leave for a while now. It was put forth that perhaps this Clinton holdover never quite fit the Bush administration mold. Some said he was quitting because no weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq. Some used the word 'fired' to describe his departure.

-snip-

More - http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/060404A.shtml

[izzie]

1. Well something bad is going on.

And why is the President going to Italy? Does he not know they fought with Germany in WW2? But then I think it is for his base and all that religious right wing nut business. Will he be giving the Pope Gods words? We are living in one crazy time.

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. I think there's a danger in over-playing Tenet's departure.

He needed to go. Period. 9/11 was a total intelligence failure so Tenet was suspect. I became convinced that he had made too many mistakes during the hearings, when it was known that Clinton gave the order to get bin Laden at all costs, and the CIA said they didn't realize that they had been given a green light to kill bin Laden if necessary. Sorry, that one didn't wash with me.

On edit: Calling Tenet a "Clinton hold-over" is getting a little too sentimental. If he was capable of calling Iraq a slam dunk, then he too would have wanted to keep Wilson quiet. (Okay, so I'm a little skeptical this morning. Blame the coffee.)

On yet another edit: Tenet's replacement might be Wolfowitz? That would seal the White House's fate. By now most people accept that Iraq was a neo-con policy disaster and putting in a neo-con as head spook would convince even the most die-hard Republican voter that Bush is in la-la land.

[Trajan]

3. Peter Goss is on the top track now ....

There is NO WAY Wolfowitz will be CIA Director ... McCain, Hagel and possibly Roberts would rebel and join the Dems to vote him down ...

Goss is no 'moderate', so there is no joy in relating that ...

We have to admit: the picture is not yet clear ... Tenet could have quit for EITHER of these reasons ...

1) He is fed up with the treatment of the CIA, and the Chalabi affair was the straw that broke the camels back ...

2) He is fed up with the treatment of the CIA, and the possible culpability of the WH in exposing Plame was the straw that broke the camels back ...

3) The upcoming reports reveal that Tenet was himself personally responsible for breakdowns in numerous aspects of intelligence operations ....

4) Tenet heard the words of his 'good friend' President Gore, and has found a renewed faith in honesty and healthy shame ....

5) These and various other possible scenarios in combination ...

THIS much we know: The CIA is none too happy with being blamed for intelligence offered by Chalabi, and spoonfed to the president by his neocon advisors, which they had REJECTED .... There is ample evidence that Tenet HATED Chalabi, and CIA en toto had dismissed his clique as dangerously fraudulent ...

There is a battle going on RIGHT NOW between CIA and DoD ... and its seething just below the surface ... you can feel it ....

Stay Tuned ....

[The Backlash Cometh]

4. When Titans Clash.

On a local level, I have learned that the only time little guys like us get to see what is really happening behind the curtains is when there is infighting going on amongst the pillars of the community. Thanks for the advice on the CIA and DoD.

[Fovea]

5. Will, that photo

of George with his lips pursed and his eyes red really moves me.
I am not a universal fan of Mr. Tenet's administration of the CIA,
but I really was affected by that look. That was a look of anger, pain, and pride.

Were I George Bush, I would see that looks in my bad dreams.
Do you wonder, Will, if Mr. Tenet is thinking of his oath of office in a broader sense now, one that holds his real boss to be the American people?

Of all the ex-administration officials that might write an enlightening book on the actual prosecution of the real war on terrorism, and the shell game in Iraq, George Tenet could do unrecoverable damage to this administration.

George Tenet is reportedly a loyal civil servant, but surely he knows that he helped further a unjustified war, a war that is proving costly in a lot of ways.

He certainly could force Bush and Cheney to make that same face.
What is your take on Pavett steping down at this point?

[Miss Authoritiva]

6. In contrast to Iran-Contra, so much of this PNAC death waltz

was danced in public. As always, the public's watchdogs -- the mainstream media -- are zonked on ketamine.