George Tenet and, more important, our premier intelligence organization managed to find weapons of mass destruction that did not exist while failing to find links to terrorists that did—all while missing completely the rise of Islamist fundamentalism. We have made only a down payment on the price of that failure.
Slam dunk.
See also Imamasses, below.
Yeah, but Richard Perle? I figure that’s the Wash Post’s way of making it look bad.
And why am I the only person who thinks that Tenet’s obliviousness to Pakistan getting nukes destroy’s much of his credibility on just about any intelligence issue?
I don’t get the part where Tenet is all surprised that Richard Pearle would have an early morning meeting at the White House on September 12. I mean, if Richard hadn’t been in Europe. I would bet lots of people were at work early at the White House that day. I would have been more like “Hi Richard. That was pretty crazy yesterday, huh? They got bagels in there?”
It’s the usual bureaucratic inertia. The CIA was formed to watch the Soviets and the Chinese. Everything – studies, degrees, focus – was on them. And they did a poor job of it.
If they cannot do a good job on their primary focus, how good a job do you think they would do with something that has never been? And when – if – they get around to focus on the jihadis, how well do you think they are going to be able to see the rise of Gaia oriented ludditism?
Piss-poor, is my guess. At least (so far as I know) they aren’t offering reports on the threat offered by Imperial Spanish troops in Cuba.
Sigh. Everyone hates the neocons.
But that’s what you get for liberating 50 million people and removing two heinous regimes.
Oh well, Tom Paine died alone and hated too.
Neither Thomas Jefferson’s nor Woodrow Wilson’s ideals have found a happy home in either their party or offical Washington, have they, TallDave?
I have a problem with the ‘weapons that didn’t exist’ part.
Just because we didn’t find them doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Just sayin’…
Lee, et alia,
Look: I’m not saying that I’m a big Pearle fan, but amongst all the “facts” that are open to dispute, despite what some of our ideological foes might say, the fact of Pearle’s having ever said what Tenet claims he said is something that ought to be determinable. And, in fact, the number of things in our politics that ought be subject to some kind of probative determination that in fact remain open to dispute makes one, if one is myself, rather cynical.
In this instance, I’m very much inclined to believe Pearle. I find it appalling, frankly, that an ex-CIA chief would be so bad at disinformation. I don’t like being lied to as a general rule, but when someone expects me to swallow evident hogwash, it’s just insulting.
I echo Dan – At least get the sequence of events right. The US declaration of war on Japan followed the attack on Peral Harbor; the attack on Pearl Harbor wasn’t a reaction to the US declaration of war.
The above is for exemplary purposes only; and God help us all that I think I have to make that clear!