White House Dismisses Tenet's Criticism

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

White House dismisses Tenet's criticism
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON -- A senior White House counselor on Friday dismissed former CIA Director's George Tenet portrait of a Bush administration that rushed to war in Iraq without serious debate. "The president did wrestle with those very serious questions," Dan Bartlett said.

Asked about Tenet's upcoming book, excerpts of which were reported Friday in The New York Times, Bartlett called the former CIA chief a "true patriot" but suggested he might have been unaware of the breadth of the prewar debate that led Bush to dismiss other options, such as diplomatic means, for reining in Saddam Hussein.

"I've seen meetings, I've listened to the president, both in conversations with other world leaders like (British Prime Minister) Tony Blair as well as internally, where the president did wrestle with those very questions," Bartlett said on NBC's "Today" show. "This president weighed all the various proposals, weighed all the various consequences before he did make a decision."

Tenet complains that his now-infamous "slam dunk" phrase, used at a 2002 White House meeting, has been misrepresented and used to shift blame to him. Explaining his remark for the first time in an interview taped to air Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Tenet said he was referring broadly to the case that could be made against Saddam - not the presence of his alleged weapons of mass destruction.

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Read more: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1151AP_Tenet_Slam_Dunk.html

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Does this mean they want their Medal of Freedom back?

[underpants]

1. So?

couldn't they find a credible source for this story?

[truthisfreedom]

2. Nobody, and I mean nobody, gives a flying hootie-hoo what the WH says anymore.

They no longer command the respect of this nation.

[speedoo]

3. Sure Dan.

You've always been so honest with us, why should we not believe you now? :puke:

[LynnTheDem]

4. So GEORGE W BUSH was NOT FOOLED; he "wrestled" with all

his decision to illegally invade a sovereign nation that hadn't done a damn thing to us.

So, like me, GEORGE W BUSH KNEW there was no "wmd" in Iraq.

Like me, GEORGE W BUSH KNEW Iraq & Hussein had nothing whatsoever to do with 911 and/or al Qaeda.

Like me, GEORGE W BUSH KNEW Iraq/Hussein were no threat whatsoever to us.

GEORGE W BUSH KNEW he was launching an illegal war of aggression invasion against an innocent people. "THE SUPREME CRIME".

Good, he admits it.

Now let's do the right thing;

IMPEACH.

INDICT.

IMPRISON.

[Hissyspit]

5. Hi, Lynn!

:hi:

You post should be a separate OP. Suggested Title: "Dan Bartlett, Syncophantic Piece of Shit War Criminal Stooge"

Just a suggestion! :P

[LynnTheDem]

8. Hiya Hissy!

:hi:

You're looking good! :)

[Goat52a]

6. What's new?

Bush doesn't listen to anything that hints he is wrong... Again why the news. News should be fresh and different... same old stuff.... smile

[shain from kane]

7. Bartlett needs another helicopter ride. From the expression on his face

in the infamous photo, he suddenly realized that nothing is a "slam dunk" in life, even the possibility of landing safely in Baghdad, after it was "liberated".

[Lobster Martini]

9. How many times have I heard "WH dismisses ....'s Criticism

I know how many times I've heard "WH listens to criticism and considers it thoughtfully."

[rodeodance]

24. well, saays here Waxman is interested:

As to Tenet's take on the remark, Bartlett said, "I am a bit confused by that because we have never indicated the president made the sole decision based on that 'slam dunk' comment."

The Democratic-led Congress is interested in what Tenet has to say.
House Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (news, bio, voting record), D-Calif., invited the former CIA chief to testify May 10 on his views about claims used to justify the war in Iraq. In a letter to Tenet on Friday, Waxman indicated he's specifically interested in the allegation that Iraq tried to import uranium from Niger.

[bdamomma]

10. they dismiss everyone including us.

[VegasWolf]

11. Hey Bartlett, ahh - BULLSHIT- choo! nt

[ClintonTyree]

12. Yet Tenet remained silent during the entire run up to war....

knowing that it was based on half-truths and lies cut from whole cloth? Excuse me if I don't idolize you after your "tell all" book here George. It's very easy to sit back after the fact and spill your guts. What we needed was someone with the guts to tell the American people they were being told a pack of lies about Saddam's WMDs and AL Qaeda ties. Where, exactly, were you then, George? On your knees, kissing the ring (or ass) of his assholiness, George W. Bush, that's where! :grr:

Take your stinking book and stick it where the sun doesn't shine, you gutless worm! :mad:

[MaineDem]

14. Right!

He sinned by omission in not saying more earlier. By letting GW get away with it. By enabling him.

I have no respect for Tenet right now.

[The Count]

28. Except SOTU time - he didn't take the fall for 16 words and made it clear his

warnings weren't listened to. Powell, OTOH....

[DBoon]

13. Did the white house hire this guy

because they sure sound like it...

[corkhead]

23. I'm not a photoshopper, but you get the idea...

I challenge someone who knows what they are doing to improve this...

[Xipe Totec]

15. We had better information, we just didn't share it with the CIA

Yea right. :eyes:

[Up2Late]

18. Exactly.

That about sums it up.

[rodeodance]

16. hey Waxman-----time to go after Bartlett as he is the man in the know!!

[silverlib]

17. Dismissive, Decisive, or just Damned.

The three "D's of the R" Party.

[Hissyspit]

19. .

[Gen. Jack D. Ripper]

20. THIS JUST IN! The White House dismisses reality

The white house dismissed the current state of reality as, "mumbo jumbo" today, Saying the "so called reality" was just "liberal propaganda."

"The president believes this reality thing is a ploy to expose America as weak and to give aid to our enemies," Said White House Press Secretary, Tony Snow, "President Bush would like all Americans to avoid reality at all costs."

Sen. McCain (R-AZ), on the campaign trail in five states this week, applauded the president on his courage in standing up to reality, saying, "If reality wins, the terrorists win." Later adding, "America is a great land and we must stand strong against the dangers of reality."

[The Count]

27. Aren't we an empire now? Making up our own reality?

''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.'"
White House aide to Ron Suskind

[Straight Shooter]

21. "Fuck Saddam. We're taking him out."

Wrestling? I don't think so.

[Terran]

22. Link...and proof they're lying

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,235395,00.html

Will any media org make note of this today? Probably not.

[Gen. Jack D. Ripper]

25. The following excerpts jumped out at me

Hawks like Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Deputy Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and Defense Policy Board chief Richard Perle strongly believe that after years of American sanctions and periodic air assaults, the Iraqi leader is weaker than most people believe. Rumsfeld has been so determined to find a rationale for an attack that on 10 separate occasions he asked the CIA to find evidence linking Iraq to the terror attacks of Sept. 11. The intelligence agency repeatedly came back empty-handed. The best hope for Iraqi ties to the attack — a report that lead hijacker Mohamed Atta met with an Iraqi intelligence official in the Czech Republic — was discredited last week.

Most important, Bush, unlike his father, has no big, bold provocation around which to build a coalition. Except for offering $25,000 bounties to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, Saddam has been trying to stay out of trouble. Everyone knows he's a bad guy and a long-term danger, but as Republican Senator Chuck Hagel wonders, "How urgent is the threat?" And, one might add, how does it compare with the others the U.S. is facing? To many observers, it's a stretch to link any attack on Iraq to the broader war on terrorism. By fostering more anti-American resentment, a long-term neo-colonial presence in Iraq could breed a new generation of suicide bombers ready to wreak havoc on the U.S.

...But if Saddam waits for the conflict to come to Baghdad, this could be an urban, house-to-house battle unlike anything current U.S. troops have ever experienced.

It probably shouldn't make me laugh, but it does.

[The Count]

26. WTF? W's spokesperson is vouching for W? Not Babs, Poppy, Karl...Oh, yeah. I see

[Toots]

29. He is really splitting hairs here

The case being made against Saddam was that he had nukes and was going to give them to Bin Ladin, his very good buddy. Tenet said their case was a slam dunk ie. easy to prove. He has shown he is no more credible than Bush* or Cheney...