They Also Write Letters

Six former CIA officers wrote a letter referring to George Tenet, the failed CIA director, as the "Alberto Gonzales of the intelligence community". They also stated that Tenet has a "moral obligation" to return the Presidential Medal Freedom he received from Bush.

The letter, signed by Phil Giraldi, Ray McGovern, Larry Johnson, Jim Marcinkowski, Vince Cannistraro and David MacMichael, said Tenet should have resigned in protest rather than take part in the administration's buildup to the war.

In Tenet's book "At The Center Of The Storm" he claims victimhood over what he says was misuse of the term "slam dunk" when he described the intellligence regarding WMD's in Iraq.

The writers said they agree that Bush administration officials took the nation to war "for flimsy reasons," and that it has proved "ill-advised and wrong-headed."
But, they added, "your lament that you are a victim in a process you helped direct is self-serving, misleading and, as head of the intelligence community, an admission of failed leadership.
"You were not a victim. You were a willing participant in a poorly considered policy to start an unnecessary war and you share culpability with Dick Cheney and George Bush for the debacle in Iraq."

They accuse Tenet of ignoring or squandering intelligence that showd in 2002 there were no stockpiles of WMD's in Iraq. Tenet also signed off on Colin Powell's fabrication filled presentation to the U.N. Tenet actually sat behind him during the presentation.

The letter said CIA officers learned later that month Iraq had no contact with Osama bin Laden and that then-President Saddam Hussein considered the al Qaeda leader to be an enemy. Still, Tenet "went before Congress in February 2003 and testified that Iraq did indeed have links to al Qaeda.

"You showed a lack of leadership and courage in January of 2003 as the Bush administration pushed and cajoled analysts and managers to let them make the bogusclaim that Iraq was on the verge of getting its hands on uranium.

The Bush Administration was looking for justification for going to war and Tenet gave it to them.

The letter said Tenet's failure to resist pressures from Cheney and then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld helped build public support for a war that has cost more than 3,000 American lives and many times that among Iraqis.

"You betrayed the CIA officers who collected the intelligence that made it clear that Saddam did not pose an imminent threat. You betrayed the analysts who tried to withstand the pressure applied by Cheney and Rumsfeld.

"Most importantly and tragically, you failed to meet your obligations to the people of the United States."

George Tenet was just another one of the lying liars that enabled George Bush to take us to war for reasons that have never been clearly stated. The reasons have changed from fighting terrorism, removing WMDs, to freeing the peace loving Iraqi people. Mr. Bush has even called it a "crusade" of all things.

It is time for these people to stand up and tell us the truth.

Jim Martin