60 Minutes - Ex-CIA Director George Tenet - Sunday, 7 p.m. ET/PT

[Breeze54]

At The Center Of The Storm



Ex-CIA Director George Tenet appears in his first network television interview to talk about
what it was like as the head of the security agency during 9/11, the war on terror and the hunt
for Osama bin Laden. He also tells Scott Pelley that the Bush Administration acted dishonorably
when it used his famous "slam dunk" remark about WMD in Iraq to ruin his reputation and his career.

| Watch Video
http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=2733432&channel=60Minutes

---------------------

Armed And Dangerous

Should someone who has been deemed an imminent danger to himself,
like Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho, be allowed to own a gun?
The law says no, but advocates for the mentally ill say yes.

Steve Kroft reports. | Watch Video

These stories and more, this Sunday night, 7 p.m. ET/PT.

----------------------------------------

George Tenet Preview

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml

In his first network TV interview, George Tenet talks about what it was like as the
head of the CIA during 9/11, the war on terror and the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

Scott Pelley reports.

[chelsea0011]

1. Is he asked about the Plame outing tonight?

I've been surprised that all the early bits are only about Iraq. I'm sure he must have comments on his own agents being outed.

[Breeze54]

2. I have no idea...maybe. That would be good!

I want to see him whine!! :P

[RamboLiberal]

91. Yes he was and he was pissed

Paraphrasing he basically said you just don't out a CIA agent.

[johnaries]

100. He also said "undercover".

There you go Freepers, if you won't believe testimony in the Fitzgerald investigation, you heard it from George Tenet's own lips. she was UNDERCOVER!

[eleny]

3. "Men of honor" - Oh brother

:eyes:

But so long as they eat their own, I'm for passing the salt.

I understand that Tenet was always close and loyal to the Bush family even before he was hired by the Clenis.

[bdamomma]

88. Men of Honor????? give me a break, men of dishonor and of no

honest integrity.

[mmonk]

4. I won't be watching the scum.

[Breeze54]

6. Why? Aren't you curious?

I am. I want to see him squirm and catch him in his lies and whining!

[mmonk]

8. He will say we don't torture.

That and because I support this person:

[Breeze54]

9. Well, I want to hear it straight from the horses mouth.

;)

[mmonk]

13. Mouth eh? I was thinking the other end.

[Breeze54]

14. You make a good point!!

:rofl:

Good one!! :)

[eleny]

10. He sounded like a hood in that clip

Talking about honor and throwing someone over. He could have been talking about his being a member of the mob from the way it sounded. I know we often refer to them as a crime family. But you know what I mean - he really sounded like a mob guy in the movies.

[Breeze54]

11. All the rethugs do!!

:rofl: Wait...not funny. RICO ACT!!!!

They are a bunch of criminals!! Like a FORD...one indicted daily! :rofl:

[Ino]

130. I thought the same thing

Especially when he leaned forward jabbing his finger, spitting "We don't torture" -- it was pure menace. He seemed a very dangerous man, thuggish.

[eleny]

140. He forgot that the interviewer helped pay his gov't salary

As if he, Tenet, has the right to go on the offensive to protect himself. Feh.

[Annces]

5. Android

He still likes Bush, what a bunch of crap.

[applegrove]

7. I'll be there for sure. With bells on.

[Breeze54]

12. We should keep track of all his lies!

Make a list.

Plame outing?

Iraq War?

WMD's?


What am I missing? Everything! :P

[Breeze54]

15. Popcorn, anyone?

:P :beer: & :popcorn:

[rodeodance]

16. I hear he really does not go after Bush very much at all.

[bdamomma]

28. yea, but didn't bush have some hard words for him today

they can all go to hell.

We do not torture George says, that is a lie right there.

[bdamomma]

17. too little too late George

let him give his proceeds of his book to the wounded soldiers.

[Breeze54]

18. And the families of those KIA!!

Great idea, Alyce! ;)

[merh]

90. Or to the families of the CIA agents and operatives and contacts

that died because of the Plame outing. :grr:

He knows that happened and it happened on his watch and that alone should have had him stand up to and speak out against this admins years ago.

[CatWoman]

19. he seems pretty angry (from the preview)

I suppose he should be, but then, what about the rest of the country?

Tenet looks as if this is all about "him".

[Breeze54]

21. He's yelling and angry...PTSD??

On the verge of a nervous breakdown? I think he's on the edge....

[karlrschneider]

49. Dayum! He does appear a little unhinged on this...

:eyes:

[Breeze54]

20. Nobody felt like him, like they did that day??

:wtf:

Because they fucked up? Guilty?

Yup...he laid awake at night thinking about what he could've done to stop 9-11.

[spanone]

22. So he told Condi and she didn't respond??? That's what I heard.

pre 9/11...hmmmm

[CatWoman]

24. yep

she "delegated"

the witch.

[Breeze54]

26. He said she sent it to a 3rd tier?

I think that's what he said.
That she ignored his wanting to do a pre-emptive in Afghanistan

[merh]

94. The Taliban offered us OBL in February of 2001

see the link to the WH press briefing video in my sig.

:grr:

[Breeze54]

98. Thanks.

It's hard to remember the sequence of all that's happened and type what they're saying that fast!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[merh]

108. I appreciate the job the reporter did, but....

for the love of god, can't they have their research in hand? That is the first thing I would have asked him. WTF? What happened to that offer?

So we lighten up sanctions on the Taliban and get the bad guy (if he were truly the only one responsible), so we negotiate with the Taliban, what harm? Oh, that gas pipeline and corporate amerika's interests would have been affected.

[flyarm]

95. he buried conte..lie rice..but the sorriest thing..he buried my co-workers...

he knew Cunte took it to third tier..why didn't he go higher?????????

why didn't he go to transportation secretary Norman Mineta??

why didn't he go to the airlines?

why didn't he go over her fucking head??????????

those were my co-workers..if i didn't go to the highest people with a threat i would have been fired, immediately..and rightly so!! !

not gotten a damn medal!

that interview with ..tenet ..made me madder than hell!! damn i am so mad...

i hurt all over again..i am so furious and just gut angry!!

a flight crew of one of the airlines..nyc base..fly

[Breeze54]

99. I'm so sorry flyarm.

:hug: This must've been horrendous to listen to....

[flyarm]

104. i want to hurt him...really i want to slap the ever living shit out of him

i am not violent..but i am sooo angry inside...

i want to scream i am mad as hell...well i am screaming it...


with tears...

too little too late...for too many human lives snuffed out for no damn reason..no damn reason at all!!

fly

[Breeze54]

110. I understand flyarm.

Just go ahead and scream!!! Let it out!!!

It's mind boggling to me. :cry:

As Cindy Sheehan has been saying all along, "What honor?"

[fooj]

143. Hell is too good a place...

:hug: I wish that I could take some of your pain...

[bdamomma]

23. listening to this??? Condi needs her a$$ to be thrown out!!

[spanone]

25. This guy is a thug. And a bad one at that.

[wildbilln864]

29. At the very least! n/t

[Reciprocity]

27. He did nothing, yet knew so much.

To use Richard Clarke's words why wasn't this man running around with his head on fire if he knew this.

[spanone]

32. I don't talk about techniques and we don't torture....

what the fuck is wrong with that sentence?? If you don't torture, why would you have techniques you can't talk about?

Enhanced interrogation....fuck me.

[spanone]

38. The man is psycho...I'm so glad he's gone.

[annabanana]

51. You caught that too! "don't talk about techniques", indeed..

[Kool Kitty]

147. My reaction was to start screaming uncontrollably at the

television (frightening poor cats and my poor husband, too). I wanted to reach into the TV and slap the shit out of him. What the fuck kind of an answer was that?

[Breeze54]

30. "We don't torture people" Rinse and repeat.

:puke: :grr:

[BlueStater]

34. Seven times he said it so far n/t

[Morgana LaFey]

31. Liar, Liar --- Tora Bora, and the most famous one of all;

"We don't torture," we redefine in such a way that we can do anything we want and it's not called torture.

[CatWoman]

33. now the fucker is glorifying torture

[Cush]

35. he look quite nervous/agitated

[WinkyDink]

36. "Listen to me. You listen to me now." WTH?? Is he Pelley's BOSS??

Tenet's comments about torture are OBSCENE.

[Cass]

37. He's coming unglued over the torture questions. wow.

[malaise]

41. Is he on meds?

He sure isn't fooling me - guilty as charged. To the Hague.
More fugging spin. I'm not buying the book. Fugg off Tenet.

Add.

[annabanana]

42. guilty conscience... he has to convince HIMSELF. . .n/t

[zippy890]

93. really unglued- whats he hiding?!

belligerent, looking away

we can be damned sure they were torturing

[Breeze54]

39. HE just lived through 3000 dying??? WTF???

It IS all about him!!! :grr:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

40. Hubby and I just looked at each other and both said,

"This guy was the HEAD of the CIA???"

[spanone]

43. Comes across like a mafia hit man.

[malaise]

44. Damn

Quite frightening.

[Morgana LaFey]

47. Well, that's what he IS, or was, 'cept for the

Bush Crime Family, services no longer needed.

[WinkyDink]

45. Well, one thing's true: Tenet's book is dead in the water. Who would buy this clap-trap?

[Joanne98]

46. He's upset because Bushco called him an idiot!

He's an idiot for falling on his sword!

[elocs]

48. I am watching him now and for all of his indignation, he is lying.

Way, way too many tells--hand to the face near his mouth while answering questions, reaching for a bottle of water before answering a question. What a little weasel. Now at the first break he is answering a question, again with his hand on his chin near his mouth as if his subconscious mind wants to cover it because he is lying. He is like the kid who has killed his mother and father and throws himself at the mercy of the court and claims he is an orphan. Disingenuous.

[Morgana LaFey]

54. The excessive excitement is a tell, too, IMO

TOO animated. TOO indignant. "Methinks the {gentleman} doth protest too much."

[elocs]

63. Right--his entire demeanor is a tell. He can't bring himself to admit guilt and come clean. n/t

[lamp_shade]

55. Yes... disengenuous.

Just the word I was looking for.

[lamp_shade]

57. I'm waiting for tears.

[Breeze54]

60. His eyes look blood shot.

[Annces]

50. He is very visceral

How does that play out when you need a cool head? And he is always trying to make the interviewer shut up.

[scarletwoman]

52. He's still a turd. I'm watching, but so far all it's done is confirm my opinion of him as an asshole

with a gigantic ego.

It's still interesting, of course. I'm getting the feeling that with all his raving about Al Qaeda, he's auditioning for a part in the next administration...

sw

(edited to add a comma -- and here comes the "slam dunk" part of the interview... Later...)

[Breeze54]

53. George Tenet Quote

Quote

"I know this program alone is worth more than the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency
and the National Security Agency put together have been able to tell us."
Ex-CIA head George Tenet

[babylonsister]

56. Totally lame, but did Condi 'lose' the gap between her teeth? Let me

know. I just noticed it on the evening news. Looks like it to me.

[IChing]

58. I can't decide if I should watch this or the Sopranos?-west coast time

Now if I get to see a hit
I know which one I will watch.

[MadBadger]

61. Tape this, watch sopranos

[annabanana]

59. Pelley's performance is amusing...

"Well. . Who knew? What a surprise.."

[Breeze54]

65. I think Pelley's doing a great job!!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Pelley just said, "Huh?" :rofl:

[spanone]

62. B U L L S H I T--- He didn't read the presidents speech? B U L L S H I T

i don't believe him for one second

[truth2power]

64. I'm appalled by this...

Tenet sounds like he's coming unglued! Extremely confrontive with Scott Pelley. Tenet has no right to be confrontive. He's a thug. Could have spoken up long ago and didn't. Screw him. Trying to cover his a$$ now.

And the whole "We don't torture" crap. What the hell is that about? "Enhanced interrogation" my ass! Scott Pelley tried to nail him on that. Said it was a euphemism. Asked if Tenet ever oversaw any of the interrogation techniques. Tenet said he wasn't a voyeur. Blech!

I think Tenet was a liar then and he's a liar now. He can shove his book...

[MadBadger]

66. Republicans are going to ingore everything he says and just listen to the "We Dont Torture" part.

[merh]

102. which is exactly what they have done

of course, I believe the mfer who ordered the torture when he tells me there was no torture :eyes:

[spanone]

67. Two Words - Lying Motherfucker

[annabanana]

68. Tenent is loaded with "truthiness".. what he BELIEVED

good god

[malaise]

73. One more

fugging liar.

[globalvillage]

69. Pelley:

"You did just make this stuff up."

[Breeze54]

70. "We don't make this stuff up! No we don't! We don't make this stuff up!"

Pelley: "But you do!!"

[Reciprocity]

71. If those two men ( Tenet and Powell) had stood up

we would not be in this mess!

[annabanana]

72. Many many lives would have been lived... not ended.

This is heartbreaking and infuriating.

[globalvillage]

74. slam dunk = we can put a better case together?

wtf?

[MadBadger]

75. Yea, that made no sense to me at all.

[Roland99]

80. He's trying some CYA. PBS Frontline's Dark Side showed how Tenet succumbed to GroupThink

[WinkyDink]

81. Proof right there of his lying: That expression has one meaning only, and it isn't tonight's.

[karlrschneider]

89. I think he's a prick but it seems what he -meant- to say was that

it would be easy to pull a fast one on Americans. If so, he was right.
:eyes:

[Breeze54]

76. Pelley: "Who's out to get you, George?"

Tenet: "Ah..ah..I don't know. You've (they've) gone out and made ME look stupid. Honorable(?) men don't do this!"

[Kool Kitty]

148. What the fuck would this guy know about honorable men?

Honorable men would have spoken up about the lies, honorable men would have gone over Condi's head, honorable men would not have let them out and smear an honorable woman, honorable men would not have helped these other bums lie us into a war that has turned out to be an ebsolute catastrophe. Honorable men would have returned, or indeed, not have accepted in the first place, the Medal of Freedom that he was awarded. (Which seems to be what he was given in lieu of hush money, because he has precious little to say about Bush.)

[Breeze54]

150. Well said!

;)

[Kool Kitty]

151. Thanks.

And didn't he say that he accepted the Medal for the whole CIA? Amazing. Just amazing.

[spanone]

77. There's not an honorable man in the entire white house cabal.

[malaise]

83. Can one of them spell that word

History has already judged you liar!!

[annabanana]

78. Hethinks he' a "man of honor". Good God.

[scarletwoman]

79. I believe this is what is known as "limited hangout". (nt)

[MadBadger]

82. Twice now he has said, "that is the most outrageous think I have ever heard in my life"

How can there be two most outrageous things. Jeez, nice job George.

[spanone]

84. ...and judge you they will, mr. tenet.

[Subdivisions]

85. GOD DAMN THEM ALL!!! FUCK YOU, TENET!

[bdamomma]

86. too late george, you were part of grand scheme of things also.

[WinkyDink]

87. He is at the very least TOTALLY INCOMPETENT by his own words!

Too many reports coming in to get the truth.
And anyway, "truth" doesn't exist; it's only "the best info at the time".

He's a liar.

The only reason he's honest about no Iraq-9/11 connection is that Bush already copped to that.

[flyarm]

97. everyone in this admin is evil & incompetent !! eom

[Reciprocity]

92. Bullshit!!!

This man is responsible for thousands of deaths by not doing his sworn duty by specking up about what he knew to be the truth and now he's claiming to have saved lives. If it wasn't so tragic it would be funny.

[flyarm]

96. please do not buy his book..it has the blood of too many innocent on and in it!! eom

[Morgana LaFey]

125. But, mainly, it's a historical NOVEL, apparently.

Very little truth in it.

[Kool Kitty]

149. Judgng by the sound of this man,

more appropriately it should be called a "hysterical" novel, because he became more unglued the longer the interview went on. What a performance.

[benld74]

101. THEY told you what to do, and gave you a damn medal for saying it,

how the hell cn you sleep at night knowing what you did you bastard? I hope the last thing you see is that damn medal!

[slowry]

103. a) we're insane

b) let me defend our actions

*Turns TV off*

[AngryOldDem]

105. About the medal...

...Tenet said that he accepted it because it was for his work in Afghanistan. He would have refused it (he says) if it were for his work in Iraq.

If he is such the man of integrity that he is now claiming that he is, he would have refused the medal and would have shouted from the rooftops why.

He didn't. That speaks volumes.

[Breeze54]

107. I agree with you.

He must be caressing it at night...fucking bastard!!

[Bonhomme Richard]

106. The man is a coward. Had to turn off the TV.

There he is trying to intimidate, ruffling his feathers, as if he had any sense of honor. Trying to hide behind failed intelligence when he knew the intelligence was picked at to show only one outcome.
I had to turn the coward off.

[Breeze54]

109. I just wanted to thank all the smart DU'ers who commented,

for all of your insightful and timely comments. Much appreciated. :hug:

[flyarm]

111. hey George , honorable men do not send soldiers to die for a lie!!

and george honorable men stand up when those around them fail to do their job..and they stop hijackings of airlines..even if they get fired doing so..honorable men save lives..

at all costs to themselves!!

Hey George..your inaction killed my co-workers and the lives of 3000 people in NYC on a beautiful sunny morning in September..and many of us will never be the same..no matter how much time goes by..no matter how many excuses you make now..

Hey George..three people i knew died on those planes..

my neighbors son had his life taken ..in the prime of his life..

people in my town lost so many family members..

hey George..go fuck yourself!

you are not an honorable man..

honorable men take a stand and stop mass murder..

you are not honorable George..you are a gutless killer!

fly

[BlackVelvet04]

112. I think the man is unhinged......

half of what he said contradicted the other half of what he said.

[Breeze54]

113. He's used to talking out of both sides of his ass!!!

:grr:

[BlackVelvet04]

115. Truly.....

and what was with the mob boss impersonation?

[Breeze54]

116. If the shoe fits.....

[XOKCowboy]

114. These are people who will never, never, never tell you a thing...

so why the hell do we torture them Georgie? What an asshole.

[AlCzervik]

117. it's not on here yet but can someone tell me if Scott Pelley is at least asking him

tough questions or is he letting him off the hook?

[merh]

119. Pelley did a great job

he confronted him as best he could and did ask him tough questions, imho.

He just missed some of the questions I would have asked.

[Breeze54]

121. IMO, Pelley did a great job!

He not only asked the tough questions but insisted on answers!

Called Tenet out on lies and misinformation.

You should watch this, if only to be current on what's going on...

.......this isn't his last interview this week.

Tenet is on the morning talk shows (NBC?) and on NBC nightly news tomorrow also.

[AlCzervik]

122. ok i will, i'll save the Sopranos for the west coast feed and watch 60 minutes at 6:00pm.

[mmonk]

118. So, those of you that watched,

was having this person who sold out so many worth watching?

[spanone]

120. It was worth watching. The unbridled arrogance of these bu$hies needs to be seen to be believed.

[Breeze54]

123. Yes.

I feel vindicated(?); as I believed he was lying all along.
Now I know.

[Gabi Hayes]

124. The ONLY question I care about is, did Pelley ask him WHY he kept his mouth

SHUT until it was time to sell his book?

did he ask him if the CIA director is bound to swear an OATH to the constitution, to the people of the US, or anything like that, before he takes office?

did he go into anything like that? did he ask him how come he doesn't have a beard? (as in how can he look into the mirror to shave every morning)

[Garbo 2004]

126. Tenet's bullshitting about the Iraq NIE. There wasn't consensus in the CIA or intel community about

the key judgments in the NIE. And Tenet knew/knows that.

[Breeze54]

127. The phrase 'bullshitting' seems nonchalant. He's LYING!!!

I know, you know that he's lying, but he is... :P Just wanted to say that.

[Garbo 2004]

138. You're absolutely correct. "Bullshitting" is too mild for what he's doing, the same old dance:

we "believed" but were "mistaken."

Tenet knows damn well that there was no "evidence" only the claims of informers who weren't credible and "information" gotten from detainees by torture. Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi was an example. He was providing info to the FBI about AQ training camps, but it wasn't until the CIA took him over and sent him to Egypt for what Tenet claims was not torture, that al-Libi came up with a claim that AQ was getting chem/bio training in Iraq. Not only would al-Libi later recant this information which he said he provided in response to torture, in early 2004 (while Tenet was stilll at CIA) the CIA itself would retract the claims provided by al-Libi. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9991919/site/newsweek/

And there was no Iraq NIE until the IWR was pending in Congress and Congress asked for it and one was quickly thrown together. And of course the conclusions were built to suit the Administration's agenda.

Tenet's "outrage" is that he did the Administration's bidding and then they used him as a fall guy. That's his gripe.

[Breeze54]

144. And what was that guys name?? Goofball? Cueball?

The informant/liar/ ... "the one" who knew all about the WMD's.

[Garbo 2004]

145. Curveball. The guy who claimed Iraq had mobile bio-weapon labs that Tenet vouched for

and Powell used in his UN speech.

WaPo article on Curveball/CIA that cites Tyler Drumheller, formerly of CIA. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/24/AR2006062401081.html I haven't yet read Drumheller's book but it's on my list.

Tenet at that time claimed he didn't know there were problems with Curveball and no one told him. That's a laugher....it's the fucking CIA!!!!! and the head of the CIA had no means or interest to vet this guy and his credentials and credibility before vouching for him??? The Germans who had given Curveball asylum and passed on the info were telling the Americans: "Don't believe this guy."

Tell us another big one, George. For all Tenet's huffing and puffing about "honor" and his outrage at his ill treatment by the Administration, he clearly has had no problem throwing his own CIA staff under the bus when they had info that didn't toe the administration line and didn't back them when they tried to do their jobs as objective analysts.

[Breeze54]

146. That's it!! LOL! That's the name...Curveball

Thanks again!! Yeah...they used that and abused it!

[WinkyDink]

128. Tenet was unmasked as a thug, as a liar, and as a narcissist. IOW, a loyal Bushie!

[Gabi Hayes]

129. if you're interested in the depth of Tenet's disgusting, traitorous, actually, behavior, read this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x785472

review of James Risen's book about the CIA/Rumsfeld/runup to war

''To the extent that Risen does put forward a theory for why U.S. intelligence has failed so frequently and so spectacularly under George W. Bush, the story focuses on two key players. The first is George Tenet, the former CIA director, whom Risen paints as a feckless yes man, a pusillanimous glad-hander who ruined the agency's credibility and integrity because he could never stand up to others in the administration.

'George Tenet liked to talk about how he was a tough Greek from Queens, but in reality, he was a pussy,' one former CIA insider tells Risen. 'He just wanted people to like him.' ''

[Breeze54]

131. Will do! Thanks!

I'm always interested in the people, who lie to save their own asses, while others die for their lies. :grr:

[Gabi Hayes]

133. yr wlcm. here's your bonus; something that I never saw mentioned here.

It may have been, but it's VERY persuasive of just HOW corrupt these monsters (and I use that word with full knowledge of its intent/meaning) are, and how they could not care one IOTA about this country....also from the review:

The CIA's position on Iraq was clear -- it knew almost nothing. "It is hard for people outside the agency to understand how little we were thinking on Iraq," one official tells Risen. But just before the war began, some at the agency tried to fix this problem. Charlie Allen, a CIA veteran who was highly regarded in the agency, launched a provocative program to persuade the expatriate family members of Iraqi weapons scientists to travel to Iraq and investigate the country's plans regarding weapons of mass destruction. Risen tells the story of one such ad hoc spy, Sawsan Alhaddad, an Iraqi-born doctor who had defected from her native country in 1979 and is now an American citizen living in Cleveland. The CIA contacted Alhaddad in May 2002 and asked her to do something straight out of a Tom Clancy novel: The agency wanted her to go to Baghdad and secretly interrogate her brother, Saad Tawfiq, a key Iraqi nuclear scientist, about Iraq's nuclear program.

Alhaddad agreed, and her story makes for the most thrilling reading in Risen's book. She prepares zealously for her assignment, learning ways to avoid detection by Saddam's men, and writing mnemonic aids into a crossword puzzle to help her memorize the questions to ask her brother. Once she's in Iraq, a cloak-and-dagger scene unfolds as she tries to speak candidly with her brother about his work without raising any suspicions. But for all the theatrics -- to talk secretly, the siblings take long walks late at night, they unplug the phones and they turn up the television in Tawfiq's house -- Tawfiq repeatedly tells Alhaddad the same thing: There is no nuclear program in Iraq. Risen paraphrases what Tawfiq said to his sister: "We don't have the resources to make anything anymore, he told her. We don't even have enough spare parts for our conventional military. We can't even shoot down an airplane. We don't have anything left. If the sanctions are ever lifted, then Saddam is certain to restart the programs. But there is nothing now."

Tawfiq, who was understandably wary of war, thought that by taking a risk to tell his sister the truth about Iraq's weapons, he was clearing up an American misunderstanding about Saddam's regime and possibly helping to stave off the invasion. He was not alone; in all, Allen's program recruited family members to get to about 30 Iraqi weapons scientists in the months before the war, and they all said the same thing, "that Iraq's programs to develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons had long since been abandoned," Risen writes.

This data would, of course, later prove highly accurate -- but Risen says that officials in the CIA's Directorate of Operations, the agency's clandestine program, became jealous of Allen's findings, and under Tenet's weak management, they successfully suppressed the new information on Iraq. "The reports from the family members of Iraqi scientists were buried in the bowels of the CIA and were never released for distribution to the State Department, Pentagon, or White House," Risen writes. "President Bush never heard about the visits or the interviews."

[Breeze54]

134. Iraq's programs to develop nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons had long since been abandoned,'

I know. I knew. Read all about it. Thanks for the excerpt.

I've been following all of this shit, from the 'get go', PNAC etc.

You are a wealth of information. I'll keep that in mind!

;)

[Garbo 2004]

139. Risen's book is relatively short and quite readible. And appalling. Recommended. nt

[tinfoilinfor2005]

132. He reminded me of that crazy Colonel Flagg on the MASH reruns.

"I can't tell you because I'd have to kill you." :rofl:

[Breeze54]

135. Colonel Klink!

"I know nothing!!!" :rofl:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

136. Actually it was Schultz who kept saying "I know NU-THINK!"

Good guy. Didn't speak a word of English when he took the role and for the first few months said his lines phonetically. At least that's what I read.

[Breeze54]

137. Klink must've been his boss. Memory's fading....

I used to watch that show all the time but it's been years!! :P

[Beausoir]

141. Cover Your Ass mode. I watched it. The guy is trying to pad his wallet further by his book sales.

I am astonished that the Bushies let him go.

He has all the classic hallmarks of a loyal Bushie:
1. Cover your own ass and RUN!
2. Blame the mighty Clenis.
3. Make a whole lotta money in the process.

[young_at_heart]

142. Sitting with Powell at the UN.......a defining moment in our history

I don't know how these men can sleep at night when they both knew they were doing the wrong thing.