Whiners of Mass Disfunction

It's been a good year for first time authors, especially if you're a self

proclaimed, former administration insider, screaming; "If only they

would have listened to me!"

Latest in the seemingly never ending stream of such tomes, is "At the Center

of the Storm", by ex CIA director George Tenet. Tenet, the man who first

used the phrase "slam dunk," to describe the case against Saddam Hussein, and later awarded

the medal of freedom, is now crying foul. In a 60 minutes interview, Mr. Tenet

claimed the administration hung him out to dry, and with a true touch of Clintonian

triangulation, further claimed they misrepresented what he meant by "slam dunk".

If memory serves correct, Tenet was full of chest puffing, self aggrandizing, back

patting, when he sat behind Colin Powell at the United Nations, as Powell detailed

the very case for war the CIA, under the authority of Tenet himself, had prepared.

Let's look at two of Tenet's primary claims, and what actually happened, to see if they
pass the logic test.

1-Tenet claims that on September 12th, 2001, he met Richard Perle at the White
House where Perle told him that Iraq would be punished for it's role in 9/11.

Fact - Richard Perle was in France at the time.

2-Tenet claims that the connection between Saddam and al Qaeda is pure
fiction.

Fact - On October 2002, in a letter to Bob Graham, Tenet wrote;

A- "We have solid reporting of senior level contacts between Iraq and
al-Qa’ida going back a decade”

B- “We have solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of al-Qa’ida members,
including some that have been in Baghdad"

C - “We have credible reporting that al-Qa’ida leaders sought contacts in
Iraq who could help them acquire WMD capabilities”


It would seem that on the surface, the only mistake made was keeping Tenet on at the

helm of the CIA for so long. As for Tenet, his integrity sells to the tune of a 4 million

dollar book advance.

Cordially

Joe