Potential Bush-CIA crisis

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.

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

The most interesting part was the observation that the the rebuttal came close to affirming the account given by Richard Clark.

Tenet receives Presidential Medal of Quid Pro Quo

If true, this will be another crisis for Bush. Given his level of incompetence, how much more can he handle, I wonder.

Any big political storm could rupture his levees and flood this administration.

has turned green!

Junior promised to give him a big honkin' medal and play nice if Tenet would just take some blame and divert the attention. Since the heat doesn't seem to be going away, Junior's going to pin the whole thing on Tenet. Since he's been part of the lie, Tenet has the choice of hoping Junior won't disgrace him more or admitting he was part of a huge and criminal deception. He's a fool if he thinks things won't get worse for him if he upholds his end of the bargain, but then again, he IS a fool.

George W. Bush, in addition to being a total user, is a welcher; his word means absolutely nothing and he'll ratfuck his most loyal functionaries if he's in a tough spot.

Tenet needs to understand--as do MANY Congresspeople--that no matter how culpable one is in these gangsters' crimes, one is not safe. To not admit being part of the sham is to leave oneself complicit in the other uglinesses to come. People should admit having been fooled or having been a willing co-conspirator because it'll only get worse if they don't.

Denial must be the core personality trait of these people.

is anyone else finding DU to be dreadfully slow today?

he'd better not fly on any small planes, or even large ones. Happily, he knows all the ways he can meet his match, so he's got a better chance than most to watch out for himself.

interesting excerpt:

"Under normal conditions, Karl Rove would already be taking pre-emptive action. But he is neutralized until the Valerie Plame leak probe ends. That leaves it to the president's allies on Capitol Hill to keep Mr. Tenet's rebuttal under wraps. With the families of September 11 victims demanding disclosure, this will not be easy. "

It does seem that *ler has seemed unusually vulnerable lately.

EOM