George J. Tenet, the former director of central intelligence, has lashed out against Vice President Dick Cheney and other Bush administration officials in a new book, saying they pushed the country to war in Iraq without ever conducting a “serious debate” about whether Saddam Hussein posed an imminent threat to the United States.
“There was never a serious debate that I know of within the administration about the imminence of the Iraqi threat,” Mr. Tenet writes in a devastating judgment that is likely to be debated for many years. Nor, he adds, “was there ever a significant discussion” about the possibility of containing Iraq without an invasion.
Mr. Tenet admits that he made his famous “slam dunk” remark about the evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. But he argues that the quote was taken out of context and that it had little impact on President Bush’s decision to go to war. He also makes clear his bitter view that the administration made him a scapegoat for the Iraq war.
Do you think they will want his Medal of Freedom back?
It takes a brave man to wait until the popular opinion is entirely against someone to take a stand. “Sure, I uh, said it was a slam dunk, but back then everyone supported it!”. What a tool.
Also:
Wow. This would seem like an appropriate time to mention Colbert’s truthiness.
To be fair, he had to wait until all his business with the CIA and government in general was concluded, then had to write the book, get it edited, and THEN submit it to some government agency to make sure he didn’t accidentally slip in some kind of classified information.
He could have been done with his book a year ago, but this bureaucratic process could have tied it up for quite some time.
Anyone watch that Frontline on the run up to war? Tenet just let it happen, let his Agency be used for propaganda, allowed the VP’s office to lie and twist and spin the data, and didn’t say boo. Then let Bush hang a medal on him. Tool.
The next two years will be interesting to watch as the rats abondon ship.
Fuck George Tenet. Fuck him for not doing anything when it would have meant something, and fuck him for trying to make a buck off of information he should be sharing with the American public out of professional obligation and honorable service to his country. He’s got as much blood on his hands as the rest of the incompetent crony squad that’s run us into the ground. There aren’t enough obscenities in the English language to pile on that fucking dickfuck fuckwit.
The fact that all these rats are now scurrying out of the burning ship is just downright sickening. They should be so deeply ashamed of themselves that they are on their knees begging forgiveness from us for what they allowed this administraion to do to our country.
Where the hell was this ‘revelation’ when it could have stopped us from going to war. This makes me so goddamn mad.
Anything that adds to the alienation of the Rove machine is good.
Bush 41 sent in Baker to try and salvage the party for the next 20 years, bun sonny was obstinate. They only managed to get Rumsfeld with that gambit.
However now they have Gates in and he is doing what he can. Such as saying that deadlines are good.
This was meant to undercut 43’s policy, and put cheney and rove on the block. The republican elite are split on 43, and one by one those in favor of 43 start to vanish.
Bush 41 was so skillful he managed to be both DDI and DDO at the CIA at the same time. Bush 41 saw combat, and served honorably. I can’t imagine he’s happy when Tenet is reduced to this.
This is an interesting mood the previous posters are in.
There’s still technically this thing called impeachment. I’d love to see that but I think it would just be revenge and wanting validation that I was right all along. I can’t quite honestly say it would be a good idea.
Ok, here’s a rational excuse: Having to fight off an impeachment will make the current administration’s mess even worse. Anyone who’s tried to lead a raid can say any leadership is better than no leadership.**
I don’t think it ever will be. If there was solid evidence of numerous crimes, Bush would be impeached already. The public support for the idea is there, they just need provable charge.
