Breaking: Tenet Resigns
From My Way News:
CIA Director George Tenet, who weathered storms over intelligence lapses about suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has resigned, President Bush said Thursday.
"I will miss him," Bush said.
Tenet came to the White House to inform Bush about his decision Wednesday night. "He told me he was resigning for personal reasons," Bush said. "I told him I'm sorry he's leaving. He's done a superb job on behalf of the American people."
Bush said that deputy, John McLaughlin, will temporarily lead America's premier spy agency until a successor is found. Among possible successors is House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla., a former CIA agent and McLaughlin.
Matt's Chat
Here's Chuck the Schmuck's take:On Capitol Hill, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called Tenet "an honorable and decent man who has served his country well in difficult times, and no one should make him a fall guy for anything."And we ALL know where this is going. Chuck thinks that Tenet should stay and that Bush should be the one resigning. Right. Tenet oversaw the CIA, which totally blew the al Qaeda threat. I'm surprised it took this long for him to go.
11:45AM Update:
Mahatma has some insight worthy of consideration. One word: Chalabi. (Mahatma also has an "unrelated" [?] post about polls which I found quite fascinating.)1:00PM Update:
NewsMax:"Apparently there is a prewar intelligence report that is about to be released to the public compiled by the Senate Intelligence Committee," reports ABC News. "We're being told that this report is devastating to George Tenet."This has some merit too, I think... Also from NewsMax is a bio on Acting Director John McLaughlin
The report "relates to some of the prewar intelligence and some of the advice that Tenet gave to the president and to others in the administration in the lead-up to the Iraqi war."
1:30PM Update
The President of the United States:Today, George Tenet, the director of the CIA, submitted a letter of resignation. I met with George last night in the White House. I had a good visit with him. He told me was resigning for personal reasons. I told him I'm sorry he's leaving. He's done a superb job on behalf of the American people. I accepted his letter. He will serve at the CIA as the director until mid July, at which time the deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency, John McLaughlin, will serve as the acting director.Another display of loyalty to a man who should never have made it past 1/2001. I appreciate loyalty, but come on now...
George Tenet is the -- is the kind of public service you like -- servant you like to work with. He's strong. He's resolute. He served his nation as the director for seven years. He has been a strong and able leader at the agency. He's been a -- he's been a strong leader in the war on terror. And I will miss him. I send my blessings to George and his family. I look forward to working with him until the time he leaves the agency. And I wish him all the very best.
Thank you.
Mark's Remarks
While I admire the President's loyalty to Mr. Tenet, I must say I think he should have gone with the old Admin as well. However, when you have the ridiculous and crying, now screaming Al Gore contesting every possible recount, and dragging out the results of the election, then you end up with a cobbled together team. However, Mr. Tenet did do some good. He did help get more money for intel, and he did help revive the CIA once Mr. Bush came to office. However, his time has come. I do not think he was forced out or asked to leave, as some have reported. Rather, I think things got to him. Tell me, if you were told you were responsible for 9/11 as well as failures in intel every day for 2 years, wouldn't you get tired of it? Wouldn't you be ready for retirement after 8 years of Bill Clinton ignoring you and 2 years of the media trying to cut your heart out? I think so. Good luck, Mr. Tenet, and thank you for your service. However, the war goes on.
