Tenet: ‘I was a talking point.’
“CIA Director George Tenet says the way the Bush administration has used his now famous ’slam dunk’ comment — which he admits saying in reference to making the public case for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq — is both disingenuous and dishonorable. It also ruined his reputation and his career, he tells 60 Minutes.”
“And the hardest part of all this has been just listening to this for almost three years, listening to the vice president go on ‘Meet the Press’ on the fifth year [anniversary] of 9/11 and say, ‘Well, George Tenet said slam dunk’ as if he needed me to say ’slam dunk’ to go to war with Iraq,” he tells Pelley. “And you listen to that and they never let it go. I mean, I became campaign talk. I was a talking point. ‘Look at the idiot [who] told us and we decided to go to war.’ Well, let’s not be so disingenuous … Let’s everybody just get up and tell the truth. Tell the American people what really happened.”
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go away, george… nobody gives a shit about what you think now any more than we give a shit about what colin powell thinks… you could have said something at the time, you could have spoken up since, but you didn’t… now you want to sell us your frackin’ book… puh-l-e-e-e-eze… don’t waste my time…
And, yes, I DO take it personally
April 26th, 2007 at 5:44 pmAs said by others, Mr. Tenet: Give back your damn Medal of Whatever. Put up or shut up.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:45 pmDoes Tenet have an explanation for his rosy 2002 NIE on Iraq?
April 26th, 2007 at 5:49 pmjust another crook who helps put the con in conservative.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:49 pm“….Let’s everybody just get up and tell the truth. Tell the American people what really happened.â€
How ironic that these are the last words. We’re still waiting to hear from the White House what really happened.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:50 pmOh the outrage! Your career may have taken a hit, but at least now you’ll get paid to go around and do interviews…
What about the hundreds of thousands of people who have died because of what you said which wasn’t backed up with facts? Most people call that lying. You are still openly admitting that you said it, after all.
You deserve no one’s sympathy. Go polish your Medal.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:51 pmPoor, poor pitiful George. Used up and thrown on the neocon scrap heap of time. At least he has his “Freedom Medal” to remind him of all the death and misery he helped create.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:51 pm#1. You can hate the guy, and he is deserving of it but he is also another inner sanctum member now speaking. We need all hands to tear down this wall.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:51 pmOT, excuse please…
but, it’s an hour until the DEMOCRATIC debate on MSNBC
and there’s no mention of that?
curious…
like randi just said - somebody on that stage
April 26th, 2007 at 5:52 pmis going to be OUR NEXT PRESIDENT…
…
live and learn, georgie. don’t sell yourself to asspackers and complain that your bung hurts.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:52 pmYes…yes… what really DID happen? Do tell.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:55 pm“And the hardest part of all this has been just listening to this for almost three years…”
then why the hell have you been JUST LISTENING FOR ALMOST THREE YEARS???!
April 26th, 2007 at 5:55 pmboo hoo…
for us…
“Let’s everybody just get up and tell the truth. Tell the American people what really happened.â€
is he sayin’ what i hope he’s sayin’?
April 26th, 2007 at 5:58 pm…yes, let’s…
We need all hands to tear down this wall.
Comment by hellinabucket — April 26, 2007 @ 5:51 pm
Extraordinarily good point. Bring back the big tent party. The republicans are doing everything they can to drive away as many voters as possible, becoming the party that caters exclusively to upper class white, heterosexual males. Let’s use that to our advantage. If those who leave the republican party find in the democratic party a warm embrace and the spirit of fellowship… The 2008 elections will be a slam dunk!
April 26th, 2007 at 5:59 pmThe Truth.
The American People haven’t experienced any such thing from this White House in almost 7 years.
And we are all still waiting.
I really believe the KEY to a lot of the shenanigans is in the “missing e-mails”.
This White House sucks.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:02 pmbut, it’s an hour until the DEMOCRATIC debate on MSNBC
and there’s no mention of that?
curious…
like randi just said - somebody on that stage
is going to be OUR NEXT PRESIDENT…
…
Comment by katy
Like the non-mention of the impeachment of the vice president of America?
April 26th, 2007 at 6:02 pmGeorge,
Tell, NO.
Demand that all the government workers expose all the illegal activities, the lies, and corruption of this administration.
Demand it Gearge.
Every CIA, IRS. NSA, GAO, GSA, Homeland Security, everybody pour out their guts about these criminals.
Come on George.
Demand It of them and remind them of their Oath of Office to the Constitution and to the nation.
It is not about political party. It is about country!
April 26th, 2007 at 6:07 pmmaybe he coulda said something after accepting his medal o’ freedom.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:16 pmIf is career is ruined, I don’t see what the man has to lose. But, as long as he’s not willing to stand up and say publically what really happened in the run up to the war, he’s still just a monumental weasel.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:21 pmIf he is that upset, let him walk up to WH and give back his Medal of Freedom; What an asshat
April 26th, 2007 at 6:25 pmAnd why don’t you do just that George T.? What, did that “Medal of Freedom” come with a gag order?
Coward and traitor.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:27 pmSo, he didn’t know how low these guys would go? Like he didn’t know the intel he was supposed to know.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:33 pmTenet failed in his job.
It’s too bad that he was made a scapegoat with his notorious comment.
It’s too bad that he accepted the medal of freedom.
It appears that Tenet became complacent in his job, and it has cost him his reputation.
It’s too bad that he didn’t realize the hyenas he was working for would eat him alive.
This is not a profile of a savvy and ever-alert CIA leader.
We have spent over $340 billion in Iraq, with the price tag and death toll rising, and no good has come out of it. There is no peace, no end to terror and worst of all we have left the Iraqi people in deeper poverty. It’s too bad that despite all the truths about the war that have been revealed, nothing is being done still.
According to the Borgen Project, $340 billion has already been spent in Iraq and we have a $522 billion military budget. What has resulted from that money? The money would be better spent on plans such as the UN Millennium Development Goals to end global poverty. Just $19 billion annually can end starvation and malnutrition. Issues such as poverty foster a lot of the tensions that exist in the world today. As leaders in this world, we really need to get behind peaceful growth rather than war.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:34 pmYou have a chance yet to earn that medal.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:37 pmQuit your whining and come clean.
Go up to Capitol Hill and tell Congress you want to talk.
Be a real American patriot, and stand up for the principles that once made our country great, and help us regain that greatness.
Frankly, Tenet’s career being destroyed is not something I give one G-D about. He promoted and supported the rationale for invading Iraq, and now he’s crying about it. Tough titty, bud. Try to adjust to life at age 20 without arms..or legs..or eyes..or a functioning brain. You sold your soul…and I don’t intend to help you pay for it by spending money on your whining. F.O.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:46 pmLike the non-mention of the impeachment of the vice president of America?
Comment by Gerald Gibson Jr — April 26, 2007 @ 6:02 pm
huh… kind of…
but their gal is on the teevee tonight!
and it’s time…
later…
April 26th, 2007 at 6:50 pmSo the CIA Director didn’t know enough about human nature to see what was going to happen.
And he didn’t know that if you lay down with dogs you get up with fleas.
Just what type of “intelligence” is the CIA supposed to gather, bullsh*t? How about if you offer to go before congress and tell them what you knew and who you told it too and when. Because Condi is too busy buying shoes to testify.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:56 pmGeorge Tenet dares to criticize Dick Cheney? He’d better watch his face.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:29 pm“Let’s everybody just get up and tell the truth.”
a little late for that…jackass.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:37 pm.
I wouldn’t buy his book or listen to a word he has to say.
Hey George, if you had a shred of decency and integrity, you would give that medal back.
You are a day late and a dollar short–how you can even look yourself in the mirror is beyond me–you, sir, are a monster.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:23 pmSo, what Tenet is saying is that the evidence the Bush administration had was enough to sell the war on Iraq -even if it was contradicted by the findings of the UN’s WMD commission.
His “clarification” of the facts sounds a lot like he thought fixing the facts around the policy was a “slam dunk”.
I don’t know how his correction of the record could clear his reputation in any way, and it seems more like another rat leaving the sinking ship.
Excuse me while I wipe a crocodile tear I just shed for this man….
April 26th, 2007 at 8:27 pm# 1 ..right on
So…boo fucking hoo. Tenet is a sniveling coward. He betrayed us all - this country - by not saying these things when it counted.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:40 pmA complete and utter outrage. Every time this spineless amoeba gets a royalty check for his book he should take it directly to a VA Hospital and beg the kids there to accept the check and his apology for failing to say NO to the Bush Cheney War Machine when he had a chance.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:47 pmFuck him. He knows his place in all this.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:50 pmAnd the chicken-shit bastard never spoke up in three years? He should have corrected the use of his statement in three minutes. Now he knows how much people hat Bush and anyone who helped Bush start his boutique war, Tenet is seeking forgiveness - no fucking way.
Tenet was in a position of leadership; a leader would not have allowed Bush and Cheney to use those words. Tenet is not a leader; he is an asswipe - that material we use to wipe shit from our ass.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:06 pmIt’s too late, George. You sold your soul to the devil and now it’s time to suffer the consequences.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:15 pm“Let’s everybody just get up and tell the truth. Tell the American people what really happened.â€
Okay, Mr. Tenet, you go first. Start telling the truth.
April 26th, 2007 at 9:31 pmNo, it isn’t too late. If he wants to dish I am willing to listen and hope that the MSM is too.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:35 pmWhere’s that ‘world’s smallest violin?’ I had it here a minute ago and George, it’s playing your song.
You made your bed. We’re supposed to, what, pity you now? Sleep in it, suck it up, all that good stuff.
And tell it to the dead and wounded.
You pathetic asshole.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:49 pmGee, George, the worlds smallest violin is playing your song.
You made that bed, now sleep in it, Suck it up, cupcake,
Oh, and tell it to the dead and wounded.
You pathetic a$$hole.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:56 pmYeah, George, but you have a medal of honor. Isn’t that enough for you? Or maybe “honor” isn’t exactly what you are feeling these days.
April 26th, 2007 at 11:00 pm#37 It is nice to believe we would do the right thing and throw the medal back in Bush’s face. But very few of us would. We might not be proud of that medal but bucking the most powerful people in the world has a way of softening your spine…especially when you are taught to respect and honor the office of the president. I am not saying he was right but is his personal weakness unforgivable?
April 26th, 2007 at 11:09 pmWhile we’re telling, why don’t you also explain your sitting behind Colin Powell, giving your support of his speach to the United Nations, lieing to the World for the case for war in Iraq.
April 27th, 2007 at 11:39 am