Fall-Up Guy

George Tenet refutes the White House line on his (in)famous "Slam-Dunk" prophecy claiming it has been used out of context by various, most notably Darth Cheney, administration hacks. Tenet may be trying to absolve himself from blame in the Iraq scandal but, at the end of the day, his clumsy fingerprints are all over the scene of the crime. That one cliched phrase could bring down this close 'Bush Family' ally is not worthy of scrutiny, Tenet got out from under whilst the going was turning from good to sloppy but his key role in the lead up to war is irrefuteable. The '02 NIE was most probably doctored or, at the very least, the necessary caveats for the far-reaching speculatives removed. The fact that most of the explosive intelligence contained within the NIE was single sourced and from mostly dubious, self-interested parties can only lead to one conclusion - the whole thing was an horrendous con-job. That it partially cited several other intelligence sevices from around the world gave only scant credence to a document that, at its time of publication and digestion, was being roundly refuted and ridiculed by non-partisan experts from both here and abroad. I remember reading at the time a lot of the articles and papers cited in the recent, brilliant Bill Moyers documentary and was always wary of this administrations claims. It wasn't difficult to find those counter claims to the 'Aluminum Tubes', 'Mobile Chemical Labs', 'Yellowcake', 'Meetings in Prague', 'Al Qaida in Iraq' etc. I merely logged on to a European web-site or went to the BBC on-line with which Blair was having a terrible time. There for all to see was proof positive that American intelligence was at best faulty and at worst completely fabricated. When Powell went to the UN I watched amazed that the same stuff I had seen debunked only days and weeks before was being regurgitated by a once well respected statesman and who sat behind him through the whole tawdry ordeal, Mr. Tenet and lordy, Negreponte. Right then the rest of the world knew that a pile was about to be unloaded. That Powell's reception was cool and the aftermath mixed - at least they weren't rolling around the aisles in paroxisms of laughter - Tenet should have known that the jig was up. Right then he should have gone public and blown the whole flimsy operation wide open, then he may have garnered our respect. To write a book that continues to defend this buffoon of a president whilst attacking his personal tormentors within the cabinet and with nary a tilt to his own shortcomings and failings, after 27,000 casualties on our side alone smacks of the cruelest and most cynical arrogance. When it really mattered - you kept your mouth shut - now... who gives a damn about another internal republican scandal, it's difficult just keeping up with the ones we already have.