GEORGE TENET: HERO OR ENEMY?
The Average Man has a love/hate relationship with George Tenet. If you remember, he was the head of the CIA under Bush who made the famous "slam dunk" comment regarding Iraq's WMD's. At the time, I harbored only negative feelings towards Mr. Tenet. To me, he was simply part of the Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz axis of evil that lied our country into war, and I was all the more angry when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom as a reward for all his failures. Tenet, Brownie, Chertoff ... they were all the same to me.
Having said that, I have to admit that my attitude has softened a bit towards our former CIA chief. You might think the reason for my change of heart has to do with his new book, “At the Center of the Storm," where he has some not so nice things to say about the Bush administration. Well, that's certainly part of it, but it's definitely not the whole story. No, for me, it started with a little PBS show called Frontline. If I could convince you to watch one thing this year, it would be the episode titled The Dark Side. It is hands down one of the most important documentaries about our current White House that you will ever see ... I promise. Now, for the record, I didn't come away from that show loving Tenet, but I did leave it thinking that the guy was more than competent. Amongst other things, I learned was the following:
1) Tenet and the CIA knew that 9/11 was coming. It was they who wrote the PDB stating "Bin Laden determined to strike in the United States." And it was Tenet who's "hair was on fire" in August of 2001 because something bad was on the horizon. He was not incompetent. He was ignored.
2) Immediately after 9/11, Rumsfeld wanted to go to Iraq ... badly. Again, it was Tenet and the CIA who said that there was no connection between Iraq and Al Qaeda. And Tenet made Rumsfeld look absolutely foolish due to the fact he and the CIA were ready for Afghanistan (they had been preparing years for this moment). Rumsfeld was forced by Bush -- if you can believe it -- to relinquish control to Tenet's plan as Rumsfeld simply didn't have one.
3) Tenet and the CIA were hot on the trail of Osama Bin Laden when their resources were taken away for Iraq. I think they would have captured him.
While those were all important facts revealed in the The Dark Side, there is one outstanding bit of information all Americans need to understand: Rumsfeld and Cheney hated the CIA. Why, you ask? Well, because the CIA wasn't giving them the information they wanted. So, what did they do? They ignored the CIA and made their own "intelligence gathering" organization within Pentagon, which -- no surprise -- gave them exactly the information they wanted to hear.
So, here's the thing ... I absolutely believe what Tenet says in his book: he is a scapegoat, and he got the intelligence right. We must stop saying that the CIA is broken and that 9/11 was a huge intelligence failure. Even the Democrats say this over and over. It's simply not true, and it's not fair. Let me say it again: THE CIA HAD IT RIGHT ALL ALONG! The only intelligence failure was made by those with no intelligence who didn't listen to the CIA.
It seems that most of those on the Left won't budge for Tenet. I've made this case to some friends, and their response is basically that he should have stood up and said something why he was there. And people like Arianna Huffington are saying that he should have just resigned if he truly felt this way. Making millions of dollars on a tell-all book long after you're fired -- they will say -- is not commendable behavior. You won't get an argument from me on those points. However, in a pond of moral depravity, he was far from the biggest fish. Mr. Tenet may not ultimately have had the courage to speak truth to power while running the CIA, but he is far from our enemy.
Labels: frontline, george tenet, the dark side
posted by Trekking Left @ 6:44 PM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Sorry, by that logic everyone hanging on at the News-Press is blameless and it's ok if they go write a book several years down the line and say how badly they were misunderstood.
At least Wendy hasn't killed thousands of people. (At least as far as we know.)
A familiar scenario for anyone who's worked for an incompetent or immoral boss...
Interesting question that could be extended to all people of conscience who have supported Bush in Congress, in the Cabinet and its vast civil service, in the media, and in the voting public.
I agree that the average man trekking left ought to recognize the difference between, on one hand, conservatives for whom truth and reality still have some call and, on the other, scummy neo-cons who only care about getting their way--which is to say, imposing on everyone else by whatever means necessary their fascist fantasies of rich white oil guys running--and ruining--everything.
But I also agree that Tenet's misplaced loyalty to the neo-cons --and by extension the silence of all those other conservatives who saw what was happening to conservative principles but failed to stand up--is culpable. Call it a profile in cowardice. At least the neo-con Nazis believe in the atrocities they perpetrate.
Just because he's not completely utterly evil doesn't mean he's good. And the competencies you point out belong to the career analysts at the CIA, not to Tenet.
Anyone smart in this society gets plowed under by the idiots in power. Mort wuz here.
Still no love for Tenet, huh? Ya'll are a tough crowd.
Well, I'm certainly not going to sit here and defend Tenet to the bitter end. I do, however, think it's important to defend the CIA. By letting everyone on the Left and the Right continuously say that Iraq and 9/11 were intelligence failures takes badly needed attention away from the real villains. That's my main point.
To say one thing and then, when it is challenged, to say that an entirely different thing -- a strawman -- was your "main point" is not honest; in fact, it stinks to high heaven.
On the matter that really was your main point, about Tenet's character, qualities, and claims, please read what Ray McGovern has to say on the matter:
http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/05/16/the_center_of_tenets_book_lies.php
On that matter of a strawman:
"By letting everyone on the Left and the Right continuously say that Iraq and 9/11 were intelligence failures takes badly needed attention away from the real villains."
People on the left do not say that it was an intelligence failure; we have been saying for ages that it was well known to the intelligence agencies that Iraq had no WMDs; Scott Ritter, particularly, repeated this and documented it over and over for anyone who would listen -- which means, people on the left. Perhaps you should actually talk to or read people on left, rather than making false claims about what they say.
The intelligence failure is in the White House. I know now that the PTB hate the US.
jqb - First of all, I'm on your side. If you closely inspect this blog, you will see that there is no better friend to the left than I.
Now, on to your criticisms ...
"To say one thing and then, when it is challenged, to say that an entirely different thing ... is not honest"
When addressing Tenet's critics on the left, did I not say "You won't get an argument from me on those points" in my original post? I was far from an adamant defender of Tenet.
"On the matter that really was your main point, about Tenet's character, qualities, and claims ..."
Again, did I not say in my original post that "... THE CIA HAD IT RIGHT ALL ALONG! The only intelligence failure was made by those with no intelligence who didn't listen to the CIA." That statement did not read "TENET HAD IT RIGHT ALL ALONG!" So, yes, that was my main point.
Having said that, I will concede two things to you:
1) I did not read Tenet's book, so it was probably wrong of me to say "I absolutely believe what Tenet says in his book..." I made that statement based on interviews I saw with him on 60 Minutes and such.
2) I used the term "left" synonymously with our Democratic leaders. Your are totally correct that the general left knew WMD's and such was a bunch of BS.
HOWEVER, I am correct that most of our Democratic leaders are saying that Iraq was an intelligence failure and that the CIA needs fixing. I am saying that that is not true, and yes, I am saying that Tenet was not incompetent. By focusing on Tenet and CIA instead of focusing on Cheney and Rumsfeld, we are letting them off the hook. The fact that Cheney and Rumselfd started their own intelligence gathering organization and ignored the CIA IS THE SCANDAL! I stand by my statements.
Oh, and by the way, "Still no love for Tenet, huh?" was an attempt at humor.
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