WP: For Personal Reasons, Or Is He the Fall Guy?

[kskiska]

Friday, June 4, 2004; Page A01

When three hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, killing thousands, no one took the fall in the Bush administration.

When the nation went to war in Iraq on the basis of intelligence about weapons of mass destruction that turned out to be wildly wrong, no one took the fall, either.

So when George J. Tenet resigned as CIA director yesterday, it was no surprise that his departure was choreographed to demonstrate he was not being blamed for any of the intelligence failures that occurred on his watch. The administration line was that he was leaving on his own accord to spend time with his family.

(snip)

Former CIA director Stansfield Turner told CNN that he was very surprised by the resignation because he thought "the president was not going to acknowledge that there were problems in his own inner circle. I certainly thought that Tenet, being a very loyal type of civil servant, would not walk out on the president in the middle of an election campaign."

(snip)

Still, Tenet's resignation signals the beginning of the breakup of a foreign policy team that has taken the country through the Sept. 11 crisis and two wars over the past 3 1/2 years. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice have made it clear they will depart at the end of the current term, and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld appears unlikely to remain in the wake of the prison scandal in Iraq and the many calls for his resignation.

Thus, even if Bush wins reelection, the foreign policy slate largely could be wiped clean in six months.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13986-2004Jun3.html

[Wickerman]

1. First I'd heard of Condi leaving

where the hell have I been?

[kskiska]

2. She's told people

she'd like to get back to real life – scholastic, I presume.

[Wickerman]

3. what, not an oil company or two?

wherever - I just want her to go far away.

[grytpype]

4. He's Bush's scapegoat. Clearly.

From the article:

--

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) said that it was "no secret" that Tenet was tired and wanted to leave but that Tenet was also well aware that the reports would soon be issued. But, he added, "I don't think George Tenet should be held responsible or blamed for the intelligence failures of the past two years."

..

"I'm probably the only person in Washington who takes George at face value," said former national security adviser Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger, who said he had many phone conversations yesterday speculating on the motives and political impact of Tenet's departure. Berger, who worked closely with Tenet in the Clinton White House, noted that Tenet has been at the center of intelligence decision making for nearly 12 years, either at the CIA or Clinton's National Security Council.