CIA Director Tenet is Canned... Er, Misses Family

He Also Wanted More Time to Mow Lawn

Published on June 3, 2004 By blogic In Politics

According to Yahoo News, CIA Director George Tenet is history.

According to the article, Tenet resigned, predictably for "personal reasons". I'm sure he's suddenly decided he wants to spend a hell of a lot more time with his family. Of course it has nothing to do with totally botching the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) stuff in Iraq:

"The truth about Iraq: A Play in Two Sentences."

Tenet: Iraq has WMDs.
Reality: Um, no it doesn't.

Of course, the real truth is that Tenet is a fall guy. Bush has set up Tenet to take the blame for the crapilicious intelligence Bush kept yammering about on television in 2002 and 2003. Nevermind that Bush and Cheney decided to invade Iraq before the September 11th attacks ever happened, and decided within days of those attacks, and without any evidence, to tie the attack to Iraq.

The Washington buzz (and I lived there for five years, and am friends with ex-staffers) is that Tenet is a nice guy, and isn't the type to rock the boat. No one had trouble working with him, which is why Bush kept the Clinton appointee.

Of course, we also figured that as CIA Director, Tenet has all kinds of dirt on Bush, Clinton, Bill Gates, my dog, etc. Bush didn't dare fire Tenet, which is why Tenet survived (1) all the screw ups the CIA is responsible for over the last four years and (2) Bush kept telling us that the CIA, not Bush, was responsible for said screwup, but didn't fire Tenet.

I mean, think about it, if Bush says Tenet's CIA is responsible for the mistakes that have led to the complete botch of the situation in Iraq, why do we want Tenet still there? The answer appeared to be that Tenet had dirt on everyone who could fire him. End of story.

Well, it wasn't the end of the story; which makes me wonder what Tenet will be telling us about Bush now. Expect lots of juicy political leaks in the near future, and I look forward to the release of Tenet's tell all book.

Adam

Comments

kingbee

on Jun 03, 2004

hmmmm i hope he doesnt know about george and condi hahahahaahha

i figured he was gonna be going soon when i was watching the 911 hearings and and then moved the schedule up to going immediately when i read gary schmitts newest version of 'preemptive regime change--good idea or what' this weekend.

if george clooney can bulk up a bit, id cast him as tenet when they make the movie

blogic

on Jun 03, 2004

Oh, what did Schmitts have to say on this?

You're totally right about Tenet and Clooney. Similar hair, skin tone, and circles under their eyes. Actually, Tom Sizemore would be good as Tenet.

kingbee

on Jun 03, 2004

a couple paragraph sample:

For the foreseeable future, the Iraq war and its aftermath cannot help but put a hitch in the step of any president contemplating similar action. People can continue to debate whether the administration exaggerated the threat posed by Iraq's weapons programs, but there is no question that U.S. intelligence did not have a good enough handle on what was going on in Iraq. When the director of the Central Intelligence Agency next tells a president that the case regarding a country's suspected weapons programs is a "slam-dunk," one can assume that that assessment will be greeted with far more skepticism. Similarly, presidents will recall our current difficulties in putting Iraq back together and ask whether we have the talent, wherewithal or will to handle what follows a military intervention. Whether one supported the war, thinks that better planning for the war's aftermath could have precluded many of the current problems or believes that the president's vision for Iraq is still salvageable, the reality is that continuing troubles in Iraq will have an effect on presidential decision-making for years, especially when it comes to preemption and wars of prevention. Nevertheless, to paraphrase Mark Twain, reports of preemption's death are greatly exaggerated.

heres the url for the whole thing (you may need to join the site--its free) http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/suncommentary/la-op-schmitt30may30,1,5008765.story?coll=la-headlines-suncomment

O G San

on Jun 04, 2004

Some other big cheese at the CIA left today, maybe he wants to spend more time with Tenet's family as well:)

Random Democrat

on Jun 04, 2004

"According to the article, Tenet resigned, predictably for "personal reasons". I'm sure he's suddenly decided he wants to spend a hell of a lot more time with his family."

Or maybe he resigned because he's tired of the stress and increasing pressure that comes with the job, and that he knows that he's been in the position too long and that someone new should take over?

"I look forward to the release of Tenet's tell all book"
You mean the one that will be heavily edited for national security reasons.

blogic

on Jun 04, 2004

Well, you're probably right that the book will be heavily edited. Still, even after the heavy editing, things still seem to come out in these books; such as they did in Richard Clark's.

The timing of Tenet's resignation, just before various investigations conclude -- those conclusions apparently reportedly say that the CIA was at fault for much of the poor intelligence before the Second Gulf War -- makes me think there's more than simple job exhaustion going on here. My wife think that somehow Tenet is caught up in the Chalabi stuff, but I think she's wrong on that. Actually, we have a bet on the Chalabi involvement. If he's involved in Tenet's resignation, my wife wins "relationship points". Relationship points are kind of an abstract idea, but trust me, they're hard currency in my household.

kingbee

on Jun 04, 2004

[oval office, GWB seated at desk, looks up]
GWB: come in george
[from GWBs POV we see GT]
GT: thank you mr president
[pull back, GWB & GT in visible profile]
GT: i guess you want my resignation
GWB: actually george, i've got some good news
[zoom on GT's incredulously smiling face]
GT: you mean i can stay?
[closeup of smugly smiling GWB]
GWB: no george, you gotta go
[pan back from GWB pov]
GT: but you said you had good news...?
[reverse shot over GT's shoulder]
GWB: yeah i called geico and saved a bundle on my mountain bike insurance.
......

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!