Rhino
04-30-2007, 10:11 AM
Ex-CIA Director George Tenet Center of Criticism Over Memoir
Monday, April 30, 2007
NEW YORK — Disputing claims that the Bush administration was in a rush to go to war, U.S. officials are on the defensive as former CIA Director George Tenet's memoir hits bookshelves Monday.
Tenet's 549-page book, "At the Center of the Storm," published by HarperCollins, says Al Qaeda is in the United States, questions the run-up to invading Iraq and forecasts future terrorist attacks on American soil.
Tenet highlights the errors of others during his tenure from July 1997 to July 2004, such as the extraordinary efforts by Vice President Dick Cheney and others to connect Iraq and Al Qaeda. He also takes blame for other failures, such as the production of the botched National Intelligence Estimate in 2002 that was used to justify invading Iraq.
But supporters of the war effort say the White House fully reviewed reasons for going to war with Iraq.
"Force was always the last option, not the first option. There was an extended diplomatic effort on the part of the administration," said White House spokesman Tony Snow, who returned to his job on Monday after cancer surgery. "The historical record is there, there was plenty of debate about it."
Snow added there is "no such thing as a perfect war plan."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended herself against Tenet's claim that he told her a terrorist attack was imminent in the summer before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"Well, it's very interesting, because that's not what George told the 9/11 commission at the time. He said that he felt that we had gotten it. And, in fact, the very next day or the day after, Steve Hadley, hardly a third-tier official, sat with the intelligence agencies to try and determine what more we could do," Rice told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269145,00.html
Monday, April 30, 2007
NEW YORK — Disputing claims that the Bush administration was in a rush to go to war, U.S. officials are on the defensive as former CIA Director George Tenet's memoir hits bookshelves Monday.
Tenet's 549-page book, "At the Center of the Storm," published by HarperCollins, says Al Qaeda is in the United States, questions the run-up to invading Iraq and forecasts future terrorist attacks on American soil.
Tenet highlights the errors of others during his tenure from July 1997 to July 2004, such as the extraordinary efforts by Vice President Dick Cheney and others to connect Iraq and Al Qaeda. He also takes blame for other failures, such as the production of the botched National Intelligence Estimate in 2002 that was used to justify invading Iraq.
But supporters of the war effort say the White House fully reviewed reasons for going to war with Iraq.
"Force was always the last option, not the first option. There was an extended diplomatic effort on the part of the administration," said White House spokesman Tony Snow, who returned to his job on Monday after cancer surgery. "The historical record is there, there was plenty of debate about it."
Snow added there is "no such thing as a perfect war plan."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended herself against Tenet's claim that he told her a terrorist attack was imminent in the summer before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"Well, it's very interesting, because that's not what George told the 9/11 commission at the time. He said that he felt that we had gotten it. And, in fact, the very next day or the day after, Steve Hadley, hardly a third-tier official, sat with the intelligence agencies to try and determine what more we could do," Rice told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday....http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,269145,00.html