Saturday, July 12, 2003
Looks like George Tenet is personally taking the blame for the State of the Union uranium flap. I'm not sure how this has suddenly gotten such great traction as I was under the impression the Africa/Uranium purchase story was called into question months ago. Perhaps now that Blair is feeling the heat on the issue, the press and opposition here figures it's time to re-address the issue.
Instapundit has a bunch of links on the issue of Bush's "lies" here.
Anyway, in spite of the fact the White House is saying "case closed" and that Tenet will keep his job, I wonder how long he can really remain after taking the blame on. He wasn't exactly the most respected man in government as it was. Say, you don't think he has pictures on someone, do you?
Boston Globe Online / Nation | World / CIA takes blame for Iraq charge
Tenet said that agency officials approved of including the accusation in the president's speech with the caveat that it had been reported by the British government, even though the US officials doubted the veracity of the report that the British had cited.
''This should not have been the test for clearing a presidential address,'' Tenet said in a statement released by the CIA last evening. ''CIA should have ensured that it was removed.'' The director said the underlying assertion, that Iraq was trying to reconstitute its nuclear program, was sound.
The statement, which gave a rare, detailed glimpse into the intelligence process, was released at the end of a day of finger-pointing by White House officials and intensifying criticism from congressional Democrats about how the administration used intelligence to build the case for going to war. Tenet's statemet appeared designed to quell the controversy.
''First, CIA approved the president's State of the Union address before it was delivered,'' he said. ''Second, I am responsible for the approval process in my agency. And, third, the president had every reason to believe that the text presented him was sound.'' [...]
