More Tenet: In new book Tenet denies "slam dunk" comment - talks of Rice pre 9/11 warnings

[sabra]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003571875

Ignatius of 'Wash Post' Previews George Tenet Book: It Will Make Your 'Hair Curl'

<snip>

Matthews himself must know something about the book, "At the Center of the Storm," because he said, before kicking it to the columnist, "Tenet takes on vice president Dick Cheney. Cheney has maintained that Tenet told President Bush in December of 2002, two weeks before Bush decided to invade Iraq, that there was a 'slam dunk' case to be made that Saddam Hussein possessed those banned weapons. But now Tenet denies ever making that claim. David, this is a big fight. It's pushback time. How tough is this book gonna be?"

Ignatius replied: "It's going be very tough. George Tenet has been doing a slow burn ever since he left the CIA. He's been angrier and angrier as he saw himself being essentially made the fall guy on WMD in Iraq. And he's gonna come back saying he and his agency, the CIA, were pushed, again and again, by Cheney and Cheney's people to give him the answers that they wanted. And he's got chapter and verse on that."

He added: "He will tell a story that I think will make people's hair curl. But he's been waiting a long time to tell this....And he'll also say---this is a very important part of this---that, on the question of what would happen in Iraq after the invasion, the CIA pretty consistently warned, 'You have trouble ahead. You will not be able to unite this country. Sunnis and Shiites are gonna be 'at daggers.'"

Apparently NBC's Andrea Mitchell knows something, too, because she kicked: "He'll also attack and criticize Condoleezza Rice, who has denied a critical briefing before 9/11...a July briefing. They actually have the slide show that they showed her, where they were telling her that al Qaeda was threatening....You're gonna be re-fighting both sides of who lost Iraq, who lost the WMD struggle. It might get pretty brutal."

[Atman]

1. Bring it on!

I'm salivating already!

.

[bryant69]

2. I know that in a few weeks Tenet will probably be a hero around here

But while I am curious to find out what's in his book; the whole thing is pretty self serving.

Also there is probably a pretty big distinction between what the CIA was saying and what Tenet himself was saying. It's kind of clear that Tenet knew which way the wind was blowing and went along with it.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[xchrom]

6. oh i don't hink he's a hero -- but i think we've ALL suspected

that the white house story on the cia, iraq and wmds had a different side to it re: tenet.

but we've never heard it from the horses mouth.

[Parisle]

13. That "slam dunk" claim never had the ring of truth

--- The claim that Tenet actually made that comment does not dovetail very well with everything else that has come out of the CIA regarding WMD intelligence, the run-up to war, etc. I'm fairly well prepared to believe what Tenet has to say in this book.

[MessiahRp]

8. It does bring up an interesting debate

Is George Tenet hated because of who he really was and what he really told the Bush Administration or because of what Cheney and the Administration leaked to the media that he supposedly said to lay the blame on the whole WMDs thing?

Rp

[BurtWorm]

9. That doesn't diminish his stature as a major eyewitness to what went wrong

in the lead-up to the war. He's not a hero, certainly, but his testimony is vital to any investigation into the Bushists' possibly criminal distortion of the evidence in their case for war.

[gratuitous]

12. I can't answer for everyone, but . . .

I don't think Tenet will suddenly gain heroic status for finally publicly disputing the "slam dunk" comment attributed to him 4½ years ago. He took his Medal of Freedom bribe and skedaddled, leaving a huge, deadly, toxic cesspool of a war behind, one that has consumed hundreds of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars for nothing.

[kansasblue]

14. I agree Bryant.... Reminds me of Colin Powel.....

' just following orders'. They had a duty, they were at a historic point where they could have made a difference. They took an easier route, both of them. Telling us now that they were pushed, or scolded or pressured into something that was far from the truth is noble in only that they've finally chose the truth now. But in my eyes they look less like men and more children that let the nation down.

no forgiveness here.

[xchrom]

3. oh goody -- this is gonna be good!

[babylonsister]

4. While I applaud Tenet 'coming clean', it doesn't negate the fact that,

to this day, he seems to remain ever the cheerleader for the decisions of this admin. How does he reconcile that?

[Atman]

7. He's got his cool medal of freedom!

:eyes:

[goclark]

17. If he wasn't a wimp, he would give the Medal back

But we know that won't happen.

He is writing his book to get $$$$$'s.

What a wimp and scum he is to not have the strength and guts to do what was right a long time ago.

Note: That being said, maybe this will cause some more to come out of the closet.

Love to see that slide show with my :popcorn:

[maddezmom]

5. K&R

maybe he'll spill the beans about the French report as well

[Justice]

10. Outrageous

It is outrageous that Tenet did not speak up at the time, or in the intervening period since - it is outrageous that Tenet requires that we spend our money to hear his "truth."

Tenet has as much blood on his hands as Bush.

[Eurobabe]

11. So, if he never said it, why did he accept the Medal of Freedom?

I don't get it.

[The Count]

15. I KNEW IT!I KNEW IT AND SAID SO! This so looked like scape goating by Powell!

Powell and Woody! Anyone who read Richard Clarke's book could have figured this out!
I was livid with Al Franken for embracing this lie!

[Roland99]

16. So, Bob Woodward ... LIED?

;)

[goclark]

18. Bob Woodward is no better than the rest of them nt

[blm]

21. It was TOLD to Woodward by his WH source that Tenet said it. Woodward repeated

what he was told - just as WH planned.

[Roland99]

22. Ah. I'll have to go back dig thru the book and read that again.

My memory isn't all it used to be these days. :)

[spindrifter]

19. Just wait till Ch*ney starts whining that

others were pressuring him to be the Bad Guy in this administration. He'll probably wait till after he writes his hot, steamy novel about the sexploitations of three wild and crazy guys in D.C.

[daninthemoon]

20. We need a Nuremberg trial. All these SOBs keep their mouths

shut until it's time to sell a book, then they speak out. He, Powell, and yes even Bernstein should have been screaming the truth in the halls of congress and every tv camera they could find BEFORE this maniacal war started. "Just following orders" stopped being an excuse for this stuff 50 years ago. People like Scott Ritter, Wilson, and Clarke should be the folks with medals.

[cooolandrew]

23. This is the big one and the evidence that will most vindicate Michael Moore.