The actions of George Tenet and the CIA have been well documented. Dana Priest broke the story on the secret prisons. State of War by James Risen and the 1% doctrine by Ron Suskind clearly revealed the good, the bad and the ugly of the CIA. Torture happened. Secret prisons happened. Group think happened. George Tenet is correct when he asks us to wind the clock back. Remember the fear that gripped Washington. The CIA had no sources in Al Qaeda. They knew almost nothing about what was coming next. James Risan captures this state very well.
In spite of this fear, where was George? When Cheney, Rice and King George were talking about mushroom clouds where was George Tenet to say, “Our intelligence doesn’t support these conclusions.” Tenet is talking about his word and his reputation. Why wasn’t he thinking about his honor 3 – 5 years ago?
It is clear that Condi and the rest of the neocons were not interested in Al Qaeda when they entered office. The number 1 threat to America was Saddam Hussein. This is clear. They wanted Saddam out. The neocons wrote an open letter to President Clinton in 1998 pushing to start a war to remove Saddam.
This 60 minutes interview is okay. There are no major new information in it. Former CIA employees have a couple of words that they would like to say to George Tenet. (It is interesting how our President has seemed to have broken every major department and agency in the government.)
One good thing about Tenet, his book, and the Sixty Minutes piece is that it’s helping to stir the pot and boost the outrage over this administration’s mishandling of just about everything it has touched.
Mike –
Thanks for your comments.
You are 100% correct!
American’s place a moral beacon in the world is not dead it is has just bought the farm. It is not dead it has just ‘kick the bucket’ so to speak. I have to tell you Georgie doesn’t understand the difference between a euphamism and the truth. He says we don’t use torture over and over again in the recent interview, BUT we didn’t stop using any of the techniques we were using (illegally) prior to the change of the name to “enhanced interrogation” or “alternative interrogation.” I really like the part where Tenet says he had trouble sleeping because of it, noting we are delving into ‘new territory’ Actually George torturing has been around for a long, long time, the new territory he is speaking of must be calling torture somethign different and then actually believing it yourself that it is going to make it something other than torture. I found his really sickening.
Furthermore, despite what most people would say, Geogre Bush really has followed one plan to protect this country. From early on he has noted the terrorists hate us for our freedoms – well Bush and apparently Tenet have worked to make sure we are safer by chipping away as much and as fast as possible at those freedoms.
Peter –
Thanks for your excellent comments.
Hello EC and all,
The combination of George Tenet’s book, At the Center of the Storm, Eisner & Royce’s The Italian Letter and the books and research of many others in recent years now provides enough of a foundation for everyone to finally discern that 9:11 was a “false flag” operation against both the American public and the Muslim world. Likewise, the uncanny synchronicity of Al Qaeda’s videos and other activities perfectly timed to reinforce and support the Bush/Cheney administration’s political needs coupled with the actions of the Bush admin actually serving to strengthen Al Qaeda’s position, now makes perfect sense. The apparent mistakes and chaos that have characterized the Iraq war, the easily prevented resurgence of the Taliban, and permitting Bin Laden to escape Tora Bora to a safe haven in Pakistan all fit the same pattern. It’s hard to maintain a state of continuous war if you allow your made-to-order enemies to be defeated too early. It is likewise hard to remain a “war president” if your wars end too soon!
The letterhead used to forge the “Yellowcake letter” that was then used to help “sell” the Iraq war was stolen in Rome on 1/1/2001, more than nine months before 9:11 and before Little W. became president. Consequently, the use of the “Yellow-Cake Lie” was obviously discussed and planned before then! The import of this fact is that the Niger embassy in Rome was burglarized, before Bush became president, to lay the groundwork for the web of deception used to sell the Iraq War, after 9:11. More importantly, it is highly unlikely that the Iraq war could ever have been sold to the American public, without something like 9:11 happening first. Any excuses of other uses for the stolen letterhead are laughable since the letterhead burglary would have been pointless, without 9:11. This evidences foreknowledge of those attacks, a full nine months before they occurred, among other things!
Read more…
SSH –
Nice comment. Well thought out.
Thanks.