CNN Breaking: James Pavitt, CIA Deputy Director of Operations, Resigns

[VolcanoJen]

Just heard this during Lou Dobbs' show... will post link when it emerges.

The reporter emphasized that Pavitt is essentially the "Head Spook" at the CIA; he's in charge of spies.

As no link has emerged yet, here's my transcript of the CNN report (thanks, Tivo!)

---

CNN - 6:06 pm EDT - 6/3/04

Kitty Pilgrim: David, there's late word tonight of another resignation to come at the CIA. What do you know about that?

David Ensor: Yes, I gather from US officials that James Pavitt, the Director of Operations at the CIA, the man really in charge of human intelligence, the spies. James Pavitt will announce his resignation to his staff tomorrow morning, he plans to leave later this summer. Now, officials are stressing that this was planned before, several weeks ago, that it has nothing to do with Tenet leaving, in fact, he didn't know Tenet planned to announce his resignation. I did speak with someone at the Agency who confirmed that yes, Pavitt had planned to leave weeks ago.

Interesting... so if he planned to resign weeks ago, why was he giving interviews to the New York Times as late as May 12, asking for more manpower?

[AP]

1. Someone please tell me what's happening with my government.

Bush gets lawyered up. Spooks falling on their swords left and right. What next? Are we about to have a huge political crisis? Is the FBI going to arrest Bush and Cheney?

[Tight_rope]

50. Wouldn't they look great in orange!

Ohhh how I pray that Bush, Cheney, and Dumbsfeld..opps Rumsfeld go down in hand cuffs. I think the color orange would look great against they skin. :shrug:

[goforit]

116. But,....duck and cover......watch out. Don't count your chickens.

[Jackpine Radical]

72. YOUR government?

What do you mean, "your" government? It's THEIR government.

[maxrandb]

74. I hate that

Everytime * talks he keeps saying "My government" It's not your government a$$hole. We simply let you borrow the keys, but your about to be grounded.

"Dad, I wrecked the country"

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I think I'll by a football team next...Can I borrow half a billion?"

[SammyWinstonJack]

112. Everything with * is "I" "My" unless he is trying to steal our money!

then he says, "It's your money" while he has his hand in our pockets! Gawd! I hate him!

[flamingyouth]

2. It's the rat exodus today, isn't it?

Good grief.

[VolcanoJen]

3. Looks like it really might be Night of the Long Knives.

:scared:

[Beatrix]

5. What do you mean?

nt

[VolcanoJen]

8. Night of the Long Knives = 1934 Purge by Hitler of SA Leadership

Of course, he just had them all killed... Ernst Röhm being the most notable. All in all, I think 70+ were executed on charges of treason.

[SoCalDem]

9. Night of the Long knives

articles here

[yardwork]

42. Interesting snippet from the spartacus website....

In 1921 Adolf Hitler formed his own private army called Sturm Abteilung (Storm Section). The SA (also known as stormtroopers or brownshirts) were instructed to disrupt the meetings of political opponents and to protect Hitler from revenge attacks. Captain Ernst Roehm of the Bavarian Army played an important role in recruiting these men, and became the SA's first leader.

Hitler's stormtroopers were often former members of the Freikorps (right-wing private armies who flourished during the period that followed the First World War) and had considerable experience in using violence against their rivals.

The SA wore grey jackets, brown shirts (khaki shirts originally intended for soldiers in Africa but purchased in bulk from the German Army by the Nazi Party), swastika armbands, ski-caps, knee-breeches, thick woolen socks and combat boots. Accompanied by bands of musicians and carrying swastika flags, they would parade through the streets of Munich. At the end of the march Hitler would make one of his passionate speeches that encouraged his supporters to carry out acts of violence against Jews and his left-wing political opponents.

This really does sound like BushCo!

[crossroads]

90. History is repititious...again!!!

:shrug:

[Justitia]

17. Night of the Long Knives - link

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/night_of_the_long_knives.htm

[MrMonk]

18. From Nazi Germany

The para-military S.A. (headed by Ernst Rohm) was affiliated with the Nazis and helped bring them to power by organizing disaffected members of the poor and middle-class, and through violence and terror.

When the SA became a liability to Chancellor Hitler, he dissolved it by murdering its leaders in one night.

It occurred 70 years ago, this month.

[ze_dscherman]

129. It's even more scary

The "Night of the Long Knives" was acutally a power grab (with Hitlers approval) of the SS - even more ruthless then their opponents, the SA!

[belle]

68. Anything's possible, but i rather think that Bush is the one in trouble

And that the spooks are leaving Dubya to the mess he created.

[Cooley Hurd]

71. Boy, that's the vibe I'm getting...

Something BIG is coming down the pike, no doubt...

[DoYouEverWonder]

84. It makes it a lot easier for a spook

to testify in court, when they're not a spook anymore.

[TankLV]

108. Be very afraid - a cornered, angry rat, or a bush*, is a very dangerous

animal and will strike out at anything at anytime to maintain itself.

I am very worried for our country right now.

[goforit]

117. Bingo!!!........Osama in the lurks, eh?

[Cooley Hurd]

132. Chuck Hagel is due to speak on CNN this morning...

...and he's been a proponent of Tenet. Maybe he'll finally start squealing about OSP!

Don't get me wrong... Tenet's a schmuck, but he alone cannot be blamed for WMD intelligence failures.

[question everything]

141. No need to go that far. We have our own Nixon's Saturday Night Massacre

[ewagner]

4. Chief Spook?

Ohhhh...this could get interesting.

[TahitiNut]

21. That's the "Ops" side, not the Analysis side.

The "Ops" people are fully supportive of Tenet. The ANALyst side has a goodly dose of reichbots and 'true believers' ... and some who can trace their CIA lineage back throgh GHWB to Dulles. The Ops folks were being marginalized and the Anal folks were swallowing the CHalabi/PNAC/OSP disinformation and weaving it onto any garbage they could find written on outhouse walls.

I'd say this (and more) was to be expected as soon as the Tenet shoe dropped. I think we're gonna see a revolving door installed at Langley.

[ant]

94. that isn't true

the Anal folks were swallowing the CHalabi/PNAC/OSP disinformation and weaving it onto any garbage they could find written on outhouse walls.

I don't know how different departments feel about Tenet, but everything I've read has carried the story about the pre-war intel as the Pentagon vs. State/CIA, with the former being the ones swallowing Chalabi et al's bullshit. State and CIA have never, based on what I've read, been Chalabi supporters. (relatively speaking, I would guess)

[goforit]

118. I do believe the powers of GHWB are going down......The line is drawn!

ALL Papers will come out to protect the prez...........

But watch out!!!

[Dr Fate]

6. Wha? Tired of being blamed for everything, I 'spose.

n/t

[MisterP]

7. they're fleeing the coop, or coup in this case...

[calimary]

10. Maybe he's aiming to get out of range when the rest of the "bombs"

start dropping? Maybe he felt too uncomfortably vulnerable now that Tenet's gone? MAN this is getting "interestinger and interestinger," with apologies to Lewis Carroll. Malice in Blunderland.

[goforit]

119. AND........When is there gonna be an INDEPENDENT investigation?

Hello???????

Our beloved lame duck Congress that has been non existant
for 3 F#$% ing years!!!!!!!

[htuttle]

11. In sympathy with Tenet?

...Which would bolster the idea that Tenet was forced out?

Or more fallout from the emerging Senate Intelligence Committee report?

I'd guess reason #1 at the moment. I might change my mind a few times in the next few hours, however.

[maddezmom]

14. the reporter on CNN said it was in the works 3 weeks ago...but who knows

:shrug:

[VolcanoJen]

22. Yes, and CNN still insists Tenet is leaving for "personal reasons."

:+

[maddezmom]

27. LOL

:silly:

[Just Me]

43. I'd guess there is definitely a fallout,...

,...but not so much emerging from the Senate Intelligence Committee.

I'd guess that this may be a fallout that will ultimately be beneficial to the American people.

[Shakespeare]

54. You are correct.

Hint - some Original DUers may remember the occasional discussion of something called F1 v. F2 way back when.

[Alerter_]

12. is this good or bad? On the one hand...

It looks like rats deserting a sinking ship. On the other hand, it's likely the people resigning are not Bush fans, which will leave the GOP cons to re-staff the CIA with their own faction.

Any ideas?

[Jackpine Radical]

73. Or, alternatively, the ship

deserting the sinking rats.

[fearnobush]

93. So far, this looks bad. But, it could be quite good.

The Bad: Tenet is the image of the anti-Chalabi. It is well known that the CIA had no use for Bush's better yet, Barbara's right hand man to be Iraqi president. Now Chalabi is screaming it's all Tenet's fault, the WMD's etc. The Neo-Cons will attempt to re-install Chalabi's credibility in a lame attempt to regain their own. Notice how they, Chaney, Rumsfuck, et al are all quite quiet these days. This is a victory for them because they now have a scapegoat to blame the who mess on Tenet and the CIA even though we all know that it was the OSP Office of Special Plans that pressured the CIA analysts to push for bogus WMD Intel. So, The CIA is really the victim here. Tenet has played all along as far as I can tell, but now, he and the CIA will become the WMD's/911 whipping dogs when in fact that title really belongs to the OSP, created and run by Rumsfeld and the Neo-Con Nazi's obsession with Iraq's oil and stratigic location. The real bad: The 911 joke masters commission will smear the CIA, Clinton and Tenet placing most of the blame on them and worst of all, on the Democrats, right smack in the middle of the Convention this summer when the final report is released during the convention. Please, be prepared to fight like you never have fought before.

I believe we need to pressure the media to put WMD responsibility to the real criminals... Rumsfeld and the OSP, Chalabi, and the Feith Neo-Con Nazi's. Tenet's outing could be a coordinated plan to get the media off Chalabi, the OSP and the real enemies of this state...the OSP run Chaney Rummy Neo-Cons.

The Good: Tenet's leaving may take the focus off the CIA until the bogus 911 commission releases it's final and free of detail and truth report. If Tenet was a real true believer, a player of the Neo-Cons. It's a big victory since the defenders of Plame and true defenders of security will have a window to expose more Neo-Con evil during chaos of transitioning to a new director. I don't think Tenet was a true Neo-Con, but I do believe he played or was pressured to play their game, a new director could go ether way. Remember, just last week. Our Great President in exile, Al Gore, personally asked for Tenet's resignation. President Gore's emotion and sorrow was quite evident during his plea for Tenet to go. Gore said that Tenet was his personal friend. Now that Gore's plea was granted, I believe its a good omen.

[MikeG]

13. Was this for "personal reasons" too?

[central scrutinizer]

15. another Clinton appointee?

just kidding - this looks really bad and I don't see how Rove can spin this one. Even if Tenet is trying to take one for the team, what is the story on this guy? Is he an honorable whistleblower who is resigning in protest that some of his charges, Valerie Plame and her network, were placed in mortal danger because of fucking political gamesmanship and fratboy vindictiveness and he smells coverup?

[Vladimir]

16. What the hell is around the corner? n/t

[dave29]

19. Jeebus

Maybe everyone else will resign too

[TahitiNut]

35. To be replaced by folks hand-picked by Cambone/Feith/Wolfowitz?

I'd watch closely to see who gets promoted in and added to the CIA.

[VolcanoJen]

20. Earlier this month, Pavitt insisted the US had two few CIA agents.

He advocated a 30-35% increase in manpower.

Hmmm... sounds a little Zinni-esque, doesn't it?

Here's the NewsMax article... it was originally a NY Times article, but has since been archived at the NYT site (and is no longer free!).

US Has Too Few Agents

Wednesday, May 12, 2004
James L. Pavitt, the CIA's deputy director for operations, said at the end of April that he still needed 30 to 35 percent more people, including officers based overseas and in the U.S. – as well as supervisors and support workers, according to a report in the NY Times.

With surprising candor for a seasoned spy, Pavitt, who has spent more than 30 years at the CIA, wrote in testimony to the 9/11 Commission, “We cover a terrorist target around this globe using a cadre of case officers that is smaller than the number of FBI officers who work in New York City alone.”

According to the Times report, an FBI official disclosed that only about 1,100 agents are assigned to the New York field office, which includes the city's five boroughs, Long Island and six counties north of the city.

Explaining how the clandestine service has evolved from a focus on the Soviet Union since the ending of the Cold War, Pavitt said in April 9/11 testimony that 50 percent of the funding in the directorate of operations and 30 percent of personnel within the clandestine service are now focused on terrorism.

"Every station in the clandestine service has counterterrorism as its top priority," Pavitt explained, adding the chilling proviso: "I worry immensely that there are people who are trying to kill us as we sit here and talk. It is an extraordinary threat."

[Catfight]

30. and 6/11 is right around the corner? Hummmm....I think I may

take a sick day and visit a bomb shelter.

[Just Me]

48. Ewww, please don't say that. I've been having bad 6/11 dreams. n/t

[truthseeker1]

70. Me too....seriously

I have a very ominous feeling about 6/11. Don't know what or where, but I'm definitely staying home.

[nodehopper]

92. what? what is supposed to happen on 6/11?

I am so sick of all the fear-mongering and how susceptible to it people are.

So, is there something that is supposed to happen on 6/11? or is it just that 6 is an inverted 9 and ooooh, 11?

[truthseeker1]

98. just go with your gut

whatever dude....believe what you want.
but please don't ridicule others for listening to their intuition.

In general, I don't buy into the hyped fear on FOX (i.e., coded alerts) but there are some things I am cautious of and this date is something that's got me spooked.

[nodehopper]

110. WAS there a specific alert about 6/11?

I listen to my gut, which is inside my body, which has been living in New York City for the last four years and was here for 9/11. My nervous system is already shot to hell from that year. So when people start fear-mongering without any basis for it, it irks me, bcause it contributes to an atmosphere of paranoia in the country.

[truthseeker1]

122. hey buddy, I was in NYC on 9/11 too

that's no basis for this discussion and I get sick of people throwing it out there.

[nodehopper]

127. You did not answer my question.

Whatever, it does not matter about who was where, I said that by way of explaining why my nerves are already shot to hell and I don't enjoy unsubstantiated paranoia that envelops this country periodically like clockwork. So all I want to know is, WAS there some specific alert about 6/11? Or are a couple of people on this board spooked by this date for some numerological/associative reasons?

Because if there is no basis for it, I think fearmongering is irresponsible; it is our civic duty to not contribute to the mass fear that our administration throws like mist daily.

[deportivoI]

140. Wait

Aznar has been flying around the US saying something big was going to happen in the US in June. Maybe the feelings have some bases.

[VolcanoJen]

53. Ruh-roh. I've been oblivious... what's supposed to happen on 6/11?

:shrug:

[Just Me]

63. I try to remain oblivious to my bad dreams, too. It's nuthin', Jen.n/t

[notadmblnd]

65. I thought he was staying on until July 11?

that will make it 711.

[truthseeker1]

85. I noticed that too (eom)

[rednek_Liberal]

104. My Birthday tooo..

Big 30.

[maddezmom]

59. and I'm going to be in the air with my family

:(

[peterh]

79. OOOH FUCK…..I just realized I’m going to be in the air….

That evening…..:scared:

[fearnobush]

95. Please, stop the fear mongering. They want that, Bush and the

Terrorists.

[peterh]

115. Oh give me a friggin’ break….

My fear is not from the terrorists….it’s what the little twit may let happen…..and certain dates may catch my attention more than others and if that’s enabling, it’s because of my lack of trust….the world ain’t safer no matter how it’s spun….

[hundred_percent_tax]

139. Make sure you can call someone...

when the CIA "hijacks" your plane.

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

23. Plame was an "operative" -- reported to the DDO

I'll bet Fitzgerald has had Pavitt testify to the grand jury.

Pavitt: "The only people in the White House authorized to know about Miss Plame's true identity were Feith, Rice, Cheney and Bush."

Fitzgerald: "Thank you very much, Mr. Pavitt; we'll be in touch."

[David Zephyr]

31. You Got It, Sniggles!

Bush is fucked...without a kiss.

[FleshCartoon]

38. Chortle. Love it! (n/t)

[VolcanoJen]

32. Spot ON, Sniggles!

Ya nailed it, I think. :D

[maddezmom]

33. ewww...good call

;)

[TahitiNut]

40. Yup. That's a large part of it, I'm betting.

We're gonna see more. Interesting times.

[FreakinDJ]

44. I would like to see the link for that

Every thing i have seen to date list Plame as a "Covert Operative"

[maddezmom]

56. here's an interesting link posted last night

NNN0LHI (1000+ posts) Wed Jun-02-04 07:35 PM
Response to Reply #15

114. She wasn't just a CIA agent. She was a NOC

Edited on Wed Jun-02-04 07:36 PM by NNN0LHI
http://foi.missouri.edu/iipa/nocnoc.html

NOC, NOC. Who's There? A Special Kind of Agent

The unmasking of Valerie Plame sheds light on the shadowy world of NOCs, spies with nonofficial cover

<snip>Some Bush partisans have suggested that the outing of Plame is no big deal, that she was "just an analyst" or maybe, as a G.O.P. Congressman told CNN, "a glorified secretary." But the facts tell otherwise. Plame was, for starters, a former NOC — that is, a spy with nonofficial cover who worked overseas as a private individual with no apparent connection to the U.S. government. NOCs are among the government's most closely guarded secrets, because they often work for real or fictive private companies overseas and are set loose to spy solo. NOCs are harder to train, more expensive to place and can remain undercover longer than conventional spooks. They can also go places and see people whom those under official cover cannot. They are in some ways the most vulnerable of all clandestine officers, since they have no claim to diplomatic immunity if they get caught.

Plame worked as a spy internationally in more than one role. Fred Rustmann, a former CIA official who put in 24 years as a spymaster and was Plame's boss for a few years, says Plame worked under official cover in Europe in the early 1990s — say, as a U.S. embassy attache — before switching to nonofficial cover a few years later. Mostly Plame posed as a business analyst or a student in what Rustmann describes as a "nice European city." Plame was never a so-called deep-cover NOC, he said, meaning the agency did not create a complex cover story about her education, background, job, personal life and even hobbies and habits that would stand up to intense scrutiny by foreign governments. "{NOCs} are on corporate rolls, and if anybody calls the corporation, the secretary says, 'Yeah, he works for us,'" says Rustmann. "The degree of backstopping to a NOC's cover is a very good indication of how deep that cover really is."

For decades, a varying number of NOCs (the exact figure is classified) have been installed abroad in big multinational corporations, small companies or bogus academic posts. The more genteel rules of traditional espionage do not apply to NOCs. When the Soviets caught a diplomat doing spy work during the cold war, they roughed him up a little and sent him home. Unmasked NOCs, on the other hand, have met with much harsher fates: CIA officer Hugh Redmond was caught in Shanghai in 1951 posing as an employee of a British import-export company and spent 19 years in a Chinese prison before dying there. In early 1995 the French rolled up five CIA officers, including a woman who had been working as a NOC under business cover for about five years. Although the NOC caught in Paris in 1995 was simply sent home, "it might not have been so easy in an Arab country," says a former CIA official familiar with the matter. "{NOCs} have no diplomatic status, so they can end up in slammers."

A NOC's ability to run silent and deep has led Ohio Republican Mike DeWine, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, to press the CIA to invest more heavily in NOC officers, adding that the CIA's traditional spies, posing as diplomats and trained to infiltrate governments, are not well positioned to penetrate stateless gangs of terrorists who don't go to embassy parties. DeWine called for a larger NOC program in a report issued by Congress in July — and many ex-spooks were surprised when the CIA cleared the document for public consumption. But the agency has resisted such efforts before, arguing that NOCs are too expensive and too dangerous to expand the program by much.

more

[FreakinDJ]

97. Thanks good artical

[Joanne98]

46. OMG That's it. Do you think Tenet testified too?

Maybe they were "the witnesses" in The Capital Blue article.

[Just Me]

51. Yup. Yup. Yup.

:bounce:


FALLOUT FOR SOME NEOCONS!!! :nuke:

[calimary]

61. Dumb question here - what's DDO?

I'm blanking. Probably just the information overload today...

[nixonwasbetterthanW]

64. Deputy Director of Operations (Pavitt's job) eom

[calimary]

66. D'oh! Or would that be DDO! Thanks!

[KittyWampus]

75. Eueka! Maybe That's Why Bush Had To Hurry Up & Fire Tenet

and that's why the weird announcement Bush made today before leaving.

They got wind of Pavitt's testimony and subsequent resignation and needed Tenet out PRONTO!

As a diversion and so he can be a scapegoat.

[uhhuh]

124. Maybe it's the other way around

Maybe Pavitt's impending departure was what caused Tenet to decide it was time to get out.

I imagine that Pavitt and Tenet worked closely together. Pavitt's leaving may have been what prompted Tenet's decision.

[fearnobush]

99. Wow, and Bush just retained private legal counsel!

This could very well be a glorious victory for truth, justice and the American way.

[JCMach1]

126. You are right... they are going to have to testify

and at least a partial finger points at Bush

[Magleetis]

24. Something is up

These resignations are too well choreographed. I am afraid that this is some sort of election year master plan by the * admin to make them look good. I can see them saying something like "We got rid of the bad apples that were responsible for all of the intelligence errors".

[Dookus]

45. Nope

If Bush wanted to take credit for cleaning house, they wouldn't resign for "personal reasons". Bush would make clear that he decided changes needed to be made, asked for their resignations, thank them for their service and wish them well in future endeavors. Same result, only Bush gets the credit.

[central scrutinizer]

57. not if they spin it right

they can say that they resigned (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) for personal reasons (wink, wink, nudge, nudge), but blatantly imply that Bush canned them, but allowed them to save face by resigning. The old compassionate conservative thing again, mixed in with some gravitas bullshit.

[NashVegas]

100. I Disagree

These people operate under different rules of conduct than most of us. The best ammunition to have is the kind you don't have to explode. It's the kind that makes your problems go away quietly. Allowing your enemy to retain some face is good form and helps eliminate some bitterness. It also means you get to keep the ace in your sleeve, in your sleeve.

The unknowing masses may never catch on, but those who know the lingo understand the polite fiction for what it is.

Which is *not* to say this *is* a house cleaning; just that it's still a possibility.

[Dookus]

107. I understand what you're saying...

but I just think that if Bush fired him in order to make him a scapegoat, he would take credit for firing him.

[NashVegas]

109. I Suspect Not

I just don't want to get my hopes up :)

[TahitiNut]

120. If Bush were cleaning house, we'd hear him call a press conference ...

... where he'd announce that "it's with deep regret that I accept the resignations of ..." with the normal "personal reasons" like "spend more time with family."

It'd come from Bush or, more insultingly, Snott McDodger ... not the person themself and not the morning after the evening he sent a note to DimSOn (probably after DimSon was tucked in).

That's not to say the the Busholinis didn't, in effect, fire Tenet. They did. He was ablative from the get-go - someone to blame if it got hot enough.

(All the above is IMHO, of course.)

[Doosh]

25. rats scurrying from a burning building

you know something is about to hit the fan.

[sniffa]

26. oh god!

this is the worst mass cow suicide i've seen in weeks!

so who's next?

[kerrycrat2k4]

138. I can give you my wish list (nt)

[dave29]

28. Pavitt, like Clarke and Tenet, warned of Al Queda threat.

According to a report by the Sept. 11 commission's staff, James Pavitt, the CIA's deputy director for operations, recalled giving a briefing to Bush, Cheney and Rice shortly before they took office in which he said that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden ``was one of the gravest threats to the country.''

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aztUj65xqK1Q&ref...

[maddezmom]

29. and none of the MF's listened, too busy thinking about going to

war with IRAQ...and all the other evildoers.

[dave29]

34. And now, all three have resigned

the only common thread I've seen so far.

[Just Me]

52. Is it,....possible,...that LIHOP or MIHOP will soon be arriving? eom

[goforit]

121. Wag the dog expose soon to arrive?...Yes, we shall see.

[Algomas]

130. What does LIHOP and MIHOP mean?

[ze_dscherman]

131. It means

LIHOP = Let It Happen On Purpose
MIHOP = Make It Happen On Purpose

in regards to 9/11

[VolcanoJen]

55. That's one helluva common thread, dave29.

Good catch.

[tlcandie]

60. Two have given dire warnings to things to come ..

Clarke and Pav...

[tlcandie]

39. Okay, they know through intelligence that something else is coming

down the tubes that will make 9-11 pale in comparison and they want NO part of it due to the incompetencies of this regime?

They've had enough blame placed on them for all the current and ongoing fiascos and they are washing their hands to let the blame fall where it rightly should once it goes down?

This is about the same time of the year in which all the intel started getting hot regarding 9-11 I believe.

If your bosses won't fix or change the thing that allows the problem to keep happening, then you get out of the fire.

I dunno, might be too simple, but the skillet is hot and the grease is about to pop into lightning hot blazes. Maybe a few have the capabilities to leave beforehand while others are stuck due to economic reasons, etc.

:shrug:

Everyone keeps saying the * is about to hit the fan, but it might be a HUGE incident rather than something regarding this regime being held accountable for their actions.

[Vladimir]

36. This weeks in advance thing is bullshit

even if he was planning it, if it was unconnected he would delay his announcement to the staff until the mess from Tenent's resignation had been settled. Accidental my arse!

[Tansy_Gold]

77. Exactly.

Same with Tenet's resignation -- if he supposedly had this in the works weeks ago but held off so it wouldn't like he was jumping ship (as discussed in another thread somewhere. . . . ), why not wait another day or so to avoid potential connection with boosh's axquiring a lawyer?

It stinks bad. (where's the holding nose icon?)

[mallard]

135. Re: timing of changing the guard

Is it possible this is a pre-event switch? The choice of replacements will be very telling.

I'm no big fan of george tenet, but I can imagine some much more aggressive and unsavory character suddenly assuming the helm of our foreign intelligence. Someone coming in now with a fresh agenda in the category of 'neocon' would be distrurbing.

[JDPriestly]

37. There;s also Chalabi

who accuses the CIA of outing him.

[TahitiNut]

47. Actually, Chalabi is blaming Tenet directly.

I'm betting Chalabi is still carrying water for the PNAC/OSP cabal.

[truthseeker1]

81. Yes - the real war is between CIA/State vs. PNAC/OSP

and I'm wondering if Junior has now found himself in the middle of this war trying to figure out which side to go with. Well, apparently, he's going to stick it out with the neocons. I also wonder what Poppy's role in this is. How much advice (if any) will Junior take from him?

[Mandate My Ass]

88. That's the most credible theory I've heard so far

This has been an incredible news day and this is
the only thing that makes sense.

[LiviaOlivia]

86. PNACer Perle still supports Chalabi

TNR: Online
Noam Scheiber's Daily Journal of Politics

06-02-04
<snip>
Finally, it's good to see that Richard Perle was able to rise above his narrow self-interest and call a spade a spade in this case. Oh, wait:

One of those who has defended Mr. Chalabi is Richard N. Perle, the former chairman of the Defense Policy Board. "The C.I.A. has disliked him passionately for a long time and has mounted a campaign against him with some considerable success," Mr. Perle said Tuesday. "I've seen no evidence of improper behavior on his part. No evidence whatsoever."

NOTE: See Matt Yglesias for the all-important Michael Ledeen angle on this over at Tapped. And, while you're at it, take a look at Frank Foer's old piece about why conservative foreign policy wonks always seem to fall in love with frauds and con artists.

posted 2:37 p.m.
http://tnr.com/etc.mhtml

[tlcandie]

49. Maybe Chalabi IS taking the fall for the regime in order to explain

what they already knew about the upcoming resignations and make it appear that it was due to Chalabi?

I dunno seems/sounds too simple, but they are easy to read as someone else noted like Hitler was, IF you can find the one key or the MO.

Everything they've done has appeared to us to be too simplistic and idiotic, but for them it is brilliant?

:shrug:

I dunno the Chalabi blaming CIA within days/a week of all these resignations can't be coincidental, but I still think it's about something else and the Chalabi thing is an attention-getter to keep our eye off the truth.

They always throw dirt in the opposite direction of the stink.

[Old and In the Way]

69. Did the WH refute Chalabi's allegations?

I didn't hear anything like that. Perhaps Tenet saw this as a no confidence response by the WH? Having a primary source of intel on Iran compromised by someone in the Bush administration might have gotten him concerned, too. The WH has been racheting up the rhetoric against Iran lately and for someone to burn this key source of information would make Tenet mighty nervous, I'd think.

[tlcandie]

76. Dunno OaItW...

Maybe my :tinfoilhat: got in the way.. :shrug:

[Tight_rope]

41. Ohhh Lawd!!!! Another one bites the dust. Good riddins. n/t

[cal04]

58. More on Tenet

Tenet forced out: former CIA head
Bush cites "personal reasons;" ABC notes unreleased but devastating" report.
http://www.rawstory.com/

"DEVASTATING" SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE REPORT: Linda Douglass reports that according to two senior sources familiar with the Senate Intelligence Committee's report on pre-war intelligence failures yet to be released, findings are "devastating" for Tenet. Democratic sources confirm Tenet was losing support among Democrats because of the conclusions reached by this report...


comments on Tenet
I don't think it's enough ... The president won't be able to evade responsibility (for intelligence failures) by having, frankly, somebody appointed by Bill Clinton resign." Rep. Robert Matsui, D-Calif., head of the House Democratic campaign committee

" Although George Tenet is a good man who served two administrations honorably, there clearly were errors in our country's intelligence gathering and handling. I hope he's not taking the fall as a sacrificial lamb." Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/

[WillyT]

62. 'If it keeps on rainin', levee's goin' to break'...

This actually happened TODAY in the San Joaquin Delta!!! A sign of things to come, perhaps???

Story here: http://www.thekcrachannel.com/news/3377922/detail.html

:shrug:

[Jose Diablo]

67. The neocons aren't going quietly into that good night

Looks like a purge of white hats to me.

[Minstrel Boy]

83. My thought as well: "a purge of white hats"

I don't feel good at all about today's developments.

[rawstory]

78. Is there a LINK?

Amazed than one hour later I can't find this story on CNN...Anyone?

[VolcanoJen]

80. CNN is putting it in their "scroll"

Well, not really the scroll, but in red, just above the scroll they keep running "Sources: Dep CIA Director To Resign."

I can't believe it hasn't shown up on any of the major wires yet...

[phoebe]

82. 'Superspy' (Pavitt) Comes Out of Shadows to Testify to 9/11 Panel

http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0404/14/lol.03.html

JAMES PAVITT, DEP. OPERATIONS DIR., CIA: I would like to promise this commission, I'd like to promise the people who are listening to what we're saying today, that I have now in place, because of a largesse of Congress or the largesse of the executive, I have in place what's necessary to stop this from happening again. I can't say that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: Now as I said, Kyra, you are seeing somebody who has never been seen before on television in an environment like this, never been seen in public testimony. He's saying the same thing that the more public figures are saying. They're trying to make progress. But still we're quite vulnerable around the world to a terrorist attack -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: There's been a lot of talk about certain individuals being well coached before going before the 9/11 Commission. Taking a look at Pavitt, the fact that this has never happened before, what are you hearing, Bob? Was he coached or did he just speak from the heart?

FRANKEN: I think he is the coach. This is the man who runs the most sensitive parts of the intelligence community. There's a long tradition of these people. They make movies about these people. This was not a movie.


August 6, 2001...

[VolcanoJen]

96. So, "Superspy!" is resigning tomorrow.

Thanks for making America safer, you Plastic-Turkey-carryin' joke of a leader.

[VolcanoJen]

87. LINK here....

From the AP...

http://www.in-forum.com/ap/index.cfm?page=view&id=D82VRD2O1

It's buried in a Tenet article, but it's the first news wire reference to Pavitt yet.

The head of the agency's clandestine service, James Pavitt, will also announce his retirement Friday - a decision the 31-year CIA veteran made several weeks ago, before he knew of Tenet's decision, a CIA official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

[maddezmom]

106. BBC Link : Second top official to quit CIA & transcript of Lou Dobbs

A second top CIA official is to retire from his post, less than a day after the surprise resignation of the agency's director George Tenet.
James Pavitt, deputy director for operations, who was in charge of the agency's spies, is said to have made the decision some weeks ago.

The CIA says Mr Pavitt's decision was unconnected with Mr Tenet's departure.

But analysts say the move will mean more upheaval at a critical time for the agency
~snip~
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3775423.stm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~snip~
PILGRIM: David, there's late word tonight of another resignation to come at the CIA. What do you know about that?

ENSOR: That's right. I gather from U.S. officials that James Pavitt, who is the director of operations at the CIA, the man really in charge of human intelligence, the spies who go out there and recruit agents around the world -- James Pavitt will offer his resignation, will announce that he plans to leave tomorrow to his staff. He plans to leave later in the summer.

Now officials are stressing that this was planned before, several weeks ago, that it has nothing to do with Tenet leaving, and, in fact, he didn't know Tenet was going to announce his resignation, and I have checked with someone outside the agency who knew this several weeks ago. So that's true. He was planning to leave three weeks ago.

PILGRIM: All right. Thanks very much.
~snip~
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0406/03/ldt.00.html

[banana republican]

89. NIXON'S SATURDAY NIGHT MASSACRE.

ONE AFTER ANOTHER INDIVIDUALS RESIGNED WHEN TRICKY DICK TOLD THEM WHAT TO DO AND THEY REFUSED ON MORAL GROUNDS.


THIS IS BIGGER THAN BIG.

[Francine Frensky]

113. BUT, there may only be about 4 moral, human beings in this regime

O'Neill seemed like a good guy, so obviously was Clarke. Tenet and this latest CIA quitter were probably half-human, enough to realize the issues.

But what makes you think there will be any more resignations???

The main reason this admin. has been so incompetent in so many areas, IMO, is because cheney only cared about ONE QUALITY from the beginning: loyalty to bush. That was all that mattered, they never cared a bit if their hires were competent to do their jobs.

Condi Rice, expert on the Soviet Union? That made as much sense as hiring an expert on polio as surgeon general.

The evil and incompetent ways of this admin are mind boggling.

[mike1963]

91. "The dance band on the Titanic played 'Nearer my god to thee"...

An old Harry Chapin favorite of mine, it popped into my head when I read that.
<wry grin>

[peacetalksforall]

101. Wed - Chalabi says someone (in high places?) who drinks told him about

breaking the (Iran) code.

Thu - Tenent resigns.

Many (blinded) are going to link Wed with Thu. Planned timing or not?

My gut tells me that no matter what the commissions reveal...
THE REAL STORY is the fight between the Pentagon (Or call it the Rumsfel) Intelligence Agency and the CIA. It's a huge fight. The PNAC-Pentagon wants control of intelligence. They clearly want intelligence that says that it's OK to colonialize the world.

[cal04]

102. A second top CIA official is to resign on Friday, it has emerged.

Meanwhile it has emerged that a second top CIA official is to resign on Friday.

Deputy Director for field operations James Pavitt, who has been at the CIA for more than 30 years - apparently made the decision some weeks ago, and is citing personal reasons.

While the move will mean more upheaval at a critical time for the agency, it had been expected.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3774089.stm

[VolcanoJen]

103. So, he's citing "PERSONAL REASONS" as well?

That's the first I'd heard of that... thanks for posting that link, cal04!!

This thing is really starting to stink up the joint, isn't it?

[boobooday]

105. REVENGE of the SPOOKS

They are going to get Bush back for scapegoating them, and outing one of their covert operators.

Is this the beginning of a mutiny?

http://www.wgoeshome.com

[MidwestMomma]

111. Yes, the crew mutinies

While Captn Bush stands alone in the oval office obsessively turning Saddam's pistol over and over again in his hand.

[StaggerLee]

123. I will enjoy visualizing that scenario tonight MidwestMomma

It will help me fall asleep.

:hi:

[pfitz59]

128. The crew mutinies while Bush* is in Italy!

Timing is everything. Will Shrub hold a press conference in Rome? How will Rove spin this? Why now...while the Boss is away? BTW - Where's Biggus Dickus?

[havocmom]

136. beginning of a mutiny?

Or adopting junta tricks to employ against the junta: Hey, look over there! Feigning one way while moving another. In a game of hiding the pea, I would put my $$ on the CIA cuz the junta is just too Cheney.

Beginning of a mutiny, or a Trojan Horse to hide the movement of anti-neocon forces in Intelligence?

The resignations of several people in key position makes the WH either accept interim people in key positions, at the risk of looking like they neglected filling key security positions should there be any sort of attack now. Or, they have to do their job, nominate new people to fill these critical positions and then face confirmation hearings where an awful lot of dirty laundry could see the light of day. Hearings during a very critical election campaign, where the future of the Constitution is at stake, could be a way of saving that sacred instrument.

When taking oath of office, do the DCI and DDO make any mention of protecting the Constitution? Is that in their oaths like it is in the Presidential oath? Or is theirs an oath vowing to protect only the President? If the latter is the case, one could certainly see why they would want to leave for personal reasons.

The gentlemen who resigned seem to be throwing down the gauntlet while appearing to fall on swords. In the meantime, what are their subordinates up too? Perhaps those subordinates were just granted a, ahem, certain leeway now that those at the top have resigned and no longer serve at the pleasure of the pResident. Without clear chain of command, who knows what the rank and file may get into. If anything goes badly, it would be due to the WH not making it clear who was in charge.

The malAdministration is damned if they do and damned if they don't clearly define who is in charge at the CIA! The scape goats turned the tables!

Heh heh heh, good bit of irony there.

[maddezmom]

114. another snippet in the NYT

In another resignation at the C.I.A., a senior intelligence official said Thursday evening that James Pavitt, the head of the agency's clandestine service, is to announce Friday that he is retiring. The retirement of Mr. Pavitt, a C.I.A. veteran whose current title is deputy director of operations, had been planned for some time and had nothing to do with Mr. Tenet's resignation, the agency official said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/04/politics/04TENE.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5062&en=71fa78a066064b52&ex=1086926400&partner=GOOGLE

[dArKeR]

125. Why the minute aWol goes overseas?

[robbedvoter]

134. He drops bad news before leaving - Bob Graham

Last year it was the SOTU lies before going to Africa

[Triana]

133. self-removed - dupe

.

[Ganja Ninja]

137. I'm guessing that the real nastiness over the Plame outing ...

is about to begin. I'm looking forward to seeing some real dirt start flying. The kind of dirt that will have the chimp and Cheney resigning in disgrace and the GOP looking for a new candidate.