Paper: Tenet won't become fall guy for 9/11 intelligence
RAW STORY
George Tenet will not let himself become the "fall guy" for 9/11 intelligence failures, according to a former intelligence officer and a source friendly to Mr. Tenet, the conservative Washington Times asserted Thursday.
The piece was written by John B. Roberts, who worked in the Reagan White House and often writes on terrorism and intelligence affairs. Tenet, the former CIA direction, was blamed for the sixteen words in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address in which he boldly asserted that Iraq was seeking uranium for a weapons of mass destruction program. He resigned shortly thereafter.
In a more recent report, 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, and for intelligence failures leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks.
"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," Roberts writes. "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," Roberts adds. "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," he continues. "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."
"Mr. Tenet has made a fateful decision," he asserts. "The latest salvo in the ongoing wars between the CIA and the White House may be about to burst. Until now, Mr. Tenet has kept silent about what Mr. Bush knew and when he knew it. Mr. Tenet's decision to defend his own role in September 11 puts the White House back in the spotlight. The only way he can push off responsibility is to push it higher up the ladder."
Read the full column here.
George Tenet will not let himself become the "fall guy" for 9/11 intelligence failures, according to a former intelligence officer and a source friendly to Mr. Tenet, the conservative Washington Times asserted Thursday.
The piece was written by John B. Roberts, who worked in the Reagan White House and often writes on terrorism and intelligence affairs. Tenet, the former CIA direction, was blamed for the sixteen words in President Bush's 2003 State of the Union address in which he boldly asserted that Iraq was seeking uranium for a weapons of mass destruction program. He resigned shortly thereafter.
In a more recent report, 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, and for intelligence failures leading up to the Sept. 11 attacks.
"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," Roberts writes. "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," Roberts adds. "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," he continues. "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."
"Mr. Tenet has made a fateful decision," he asserts. "The latest salvo in the ongoing wars between the CIA and the White House may be about to burst. Until now, Mr. Tenet has kept silent about what Mr. Bush knew and when he knew it. Mr. Tenet's decision to defend his own role in September 11 puts the White House back in the spotlight. The only way he can push off responsibility is to push it higher up the ladder."
Read the full column here.
posted by Christy at 11:53 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home