Potential Bush-CIA crisis ***** George Tenet will defend himself

[seemslikeadream]

Potential Bush-CIA crisis
TODAY'S COLUMNIST
By John B. Roberts II
September 1, 2005


George Tenet is not going to let himself become the fall guy for the September 11 intelligence failures, according to a former intelligence officer and a source friendly to Mr. Tenet.
A scathing report by Inspector General John Helgerson criticized the former CIA director and a score of other agency personnel for their failure to develop a strategy against al Qaeda. The report, delivered to Congress this week, recommends punitive sanctions for Mr. Tenet, former Deputy Director of Operations James L. Pavitt and former counter-terrorist center head J. Cofer Black. Mr. Tenet's response to the report is a 20-page, tightly knitted rebuttal of responsibility prepared with the aid of a lawyer, according to the friendly source.
Mr. Tenet's decision to defend himself against the charges in the report poses a potential crisis for the White House. According to a former clandestine services officer, the former CIA director turned down a publisher's $4.5 million book offer because he didn't want to embarrass the White House by rehashing the failure to prevent September 11 and the flawed intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Tenet, according to a knowledgeable source, had a "wink and a nod" understanding with the White House that he wouldn't be scapegoated for intelligence failings. The deal, one source says, was sealed with the award of the Presidential Freedom Medal.
Now that deal may be off. Mr. Tenet's rebuttal to the report is detailed and explicit. In defending his integrity as CIA director, Mr. Tenet treads perilously close to affirming the account of Richard Clarke, the former NSC terrorism official whose public disclosure of the Bush administration's delay in adopting a strategy against al Qaeda stirred controversy last summer.
The IG report is the result of a 17-month investigation by a team of 11 CIA officials. The Senate and House intelligence oversight committees requested the report, which follows in a CIA tradition of analyses of past mistakes in order to prevent recurrences. After double-agent Aldrich Ames was unmasked, the CIA inspector general produced a detailed account of the agency's failure to protect its Soviet spies. That report, which was made public, prompted sweeping changes in CIA counterintelligence practices.
In contrast, the IG report and Mr. Tenet's 20-page rebuttal are classified. This is a departure from past CIA practice. There is much about the IG report that is unusual. It was completed, according to multiple intelligence sources, by July 2004. Acting CIA Director John McLaughlin passed this hot potato to his successor, Porter Goss. As chairman of the House intelligence committee, Mr. Goss had lead the joint congressional inquiry into September 11 and called for the inspector general's report.
In an abundance of fairness, Mr. Goss gave agency personnel whose performance was criticized by the IG time to review files and respond in their own defense. This one-year delay in its issuance, coupled with the decision to classify the report, give ammunition to partisan critics.
This isn't about avoiding sanctions. Insiders agree that career-ending letters of reprimand are about the most severe punishment CIA officials will face. Messrs. Tenet, Pavitt and Black have all left the agency. What is at stake for them is personal honor and their legacy in failing to prevent September 11.
In criticizing Mr. Tenet for lack of a strategy to fight al Qaeda, the IG report goes to the heart of the September 11 failure. Mr. Tenet's defense inevitably leads to the sensitive issue of the CIA briefings of the president and other senior officials in the summer of 2001.

http://washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20050831-091719-1217r.htm

[hiley]

1. perhaps truth will come out

all the way into the light soon.
failure is bush and pnac

[chomskysright]

2. think! Step back: What would Rove do w/ this? how would he wrap it around.

to N.O. Would he talk about how 'real need for competent authorities to defend the people' or some such...thus burying Tenet and supporting Savior mentality of Bush backdropped with tanks coming into N.O. w/ supplies?

THINK! How do you combat something like this? Get over your stunnedness.

[seemslikeadream]

3. So true - split image

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4582663#4583884

[enough]

4. Nominating.

We need to keep important non-disaster news out front when it comes along.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

5. Couldn't happen to a nicer person.

or a more appropriate person than W.

[Disturbed]

6. Tenet agreed to allow the CIA to be ...

scapgoated regarding WMDs bogus Intell but did not agree to be blamed for failure to prevent the 911 Attack. This is where the mutual back scratching gets dicey. I am convinced that 911 Attack was LIHOP. The PNAC Neo Fascists needed their Pearl Harbor to colonize Afghanistan and Iraq.

[Humor_In_Cuneiform]

7. There was an article at

From The Wilderness some time back that theorized that Tenet and the CIA were preparing an air tight case against the administration. It was about the time of Tenet's resignation.

One of many reasons I believe LIHOP is a real possibility is that Condi testified that if they had known it was going to happen they would have moved heaven and earth to stop it.

Funny part was she hadn't been asked if she woulda stopped it if she knew.

I'll never forget that statement.

[MadisonProgressive]

8. I wouldn't fly on any small planes for awhile..

[Lone_Wolf]

10. My first though also... N/T

[seemslikeadream]

9. kick

[Independent_Liberal]

11. Kick!