April 20, 2007
George Tenet Cashes in on the Iraq War (Brent Budowsky)
Get ready for the great George Tenet book tour, following the highly paid George Tenet talk-for-pay tour. Presumably, when he milks his failures on the Iraq war for whatever it's worth, he just might wear his Presidential Medal of Freedom, given by George Bush for a job well done.
I hope George Tenet discloses, or some media reporter will report, exactly how much dough he has pocketed in the aftermath of his shameful conduct surrounding Iraq.
You might remember Tenet. He was the star sitting behind Colin Powell when Powell was using his moral and political crediblity to pound the table for the United Nations to get behind the Iraq war.
When the dirt was dished about the phony intelligence, there was George Tenet.
When the decent opinion of humanity needed someone to show a profile in courage, there was George Tenet, slam-dunking the case for war.
When the national interest of America and the lives and safety of the troops demanded someone speaking truth to power, there was Tenet again, giving talk for pay, presumably sharing the wisdom and judgment he showed in the march to war.
When it should have been accountability time, with responsibility accepted for failure, there he was again, beaming with pride when the Decider gave his flunkie the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Remember that old show "Fantasy Island," where Ricardo Montalban hosted fantasies with the litte Tatu by his side? George Bush is Ricardo. George Tenet is Tatu. "The plane is here, boss." A slam dunk, no doubt.
Now Tenet emerges, no doubt with a fat profit for his personal account, on a book tour to dispense his wisdom. No doubt he will point fingers. Word on the street is, he will go with the flow, and dish the dirt where his bread can be buttered. He will go make his buck by bad=mouthing the man he once called boss.
Bush deserved Tenet; Tenet deserved Bush; the country deserved neither; the troops are dead, because of both.
Get ready for nasty, dirty tidbits as Tenet covers his butt to sell his book to make a buck.
George Tenet is that distinct Washington creature, the courtier to power, totally capable of love for Bill Clinton, sycophancy for George Bush, and whatever it takes to get ahead.
George Tenet could have stopped the rush to war, but he said: Yes, boss.
George Tenet could have saved America from initiating this tragic war with the false and deceptive misstatement of
intelligence, all under his watch.
But he said: Slam dunk, boss.
Young kids die in the sands of Arabia, while George Tenet makes the big bucks, eating five-star dinners at four-star hotels, doing the courtier rounds to promote his misbegotten book, about the misbegotten war.
George Tenet should give every penny of profit to the wounded troops, hang his head in shame, and apologize to the nation.
He won't do this. This is not the way of the courtier, the sycophant, or the profiteer.
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Well said! Tenet borders upon felonious behavior indeed. I wonder if he plans on stashing the profits for his legal defense fund. I wonder if the Hague will ever catch up with these thugs?
Comment by Chris in NM — April 20, 2007 @ 6:13 pm
Thank you.
George Tenet should be asked this question:
What is the proper moral response to either promoting or not intervening in the perpetration of a war crime?
Comment by Kirby Krieger — April 20, 2007 @ 8:37 pm
Thank you.
I'm fed up not only with the neo-con (and paleo-con) cabal, who dominate the Republican Party. I'm also fed up with Beltway Democrats, who think they're "above the fray" of politics and thereby let our country down when it most needed them.
This includes Tenet, his pals like Bob Gallucci, and other folks who were once progressive before compromising and gaining power (selling-out) became more important to them than the values which once inspired them to public service.
Comment by a — April 21, 2007 @ 1:07 am
well said. every single one of these clowns should be making reparations. not just to the troops and their families but to every american. our hard-earned tax dollars, reputation and safety have been squandered by these criminals and bankruptcy is the bare minimum they all deserve. in a less genteel time, they'd be drawn and quartered and hung in the public square - from bush on down.
Comment by litmus — April 21, 2007 @ 1:51 am
SLAM DUNK MENDACITY
Brent: your point is brilliantly well-taken & bitterly appropriate. Now why can't we ask Tenet & the rest the simple "yes" or "no" question posed below?
Re: Empowering the People
"You're either with us or against us"…
from: SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN:
An independent, locally owned and edited newspaper
"IT IS A NEWSPAPER'S DUTY TO PRINT THE NEWS AND RAISE HELL."
–Wilbur Storey, Statement of the aims of the Chicago Times, 1861.
Trail Mix
~Steven T. Jones
Sept 29–Oct 5 2004
" Artist General's Warning: Recu$al question could be bad for Bush's political health…
…The question is this:
Will you agree never to accept
any personal profits flowing from any military action you authorize or promote?
Masley has been harassing journalists all over the country, trying to get them to ask it of Bush and the rest of his war cabinet…
…After all,
Vice President Dick Cheney has profited
handsomely
from actions he took as Poppy Bush's secretary of defense, most notably deciding to outsource many military functions and then becoming CEO of Halliburton, which then got the no-bid contracts to do that work.
Who knows, maybe mainstream journalists might even begin questioning why a war cabinet of Texas oilmen lied their way into occupying some of the most oil-rich regions of the world. Or maybe that's asking too much. "
http://www.sfbg.com/38/53/x_trail_mix.html
RE: MARTIAL PLANNERS (& IN$IDE PLAYA$, FROM ROVE TO BREMER & CARD)
WHOA!
Takin' us to WAR?
~You ForGOT to "ReCU$E" Yourselves!
AND NOW
TO A FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION
OF RIGHT & WRONG
WAITING
LIKE AN ELEPHANT IN THE BUSH-ESTATE
FORTUNE$-O'-WAR ROOM
MORAL ARGUMENT(S)
AGAINST ASKING IT?
~NONE.
WATCHIN' 'EM SQUIRM?
PRICELESS.
"ANYBODY-WANT-SOME-WOOD?"
–W, "nervously", in debate with Kerry Re: Presidential Portfolia, Conflict of interest question…
CRAMP THEIR GUILE
Imperfect but Plausibly-"Effective" Compliance
to be "Increasingly" Monitored by the Blogosphere:
WE
THE VAST MAJORITY
APPROVE THIS 'QUESTION'
Don't Believe it, Media?
Poll the Nation
& See for Yourselves…
FROM PATRIOTS FOR A FAIR
CONTRACT WITH AMERICA:
AN "OATH" OF MARTIAL OFFICE
FOR A DEMOCRACY:
A MODEST PROPOSAL INDEED
To Strike or Not-to-Strike?
~A Potentially National
Moral Funnybone
In Requesting of Public Servants Exercising Fatal Authority In Our Name A Formal
"DECLARATION OF DISOWNERSHIP"
–A For-the-Record Concession
That
NO ENTITLEMENT EXISTS
to Present or Future Personal Profit 'Demonstrably Connected' to Any War (or Bloodshed) Authorized, Promoted, Advanced or Otherwise "Engaged on Their Watch":
We the People
Hold Ourselves
Deserving of "An Explanation"
Should the Answer to This "Recu$al-for-Life" Question be "No".
If the Answer is "Yes",
Then Be It Understood:
Martial Planner Agrees to Surrender-on-Demand
Said Profit–
(Deliberate or "Unintentional", Exposed or "Discovered")
to Veteran Benefit Groups, College Funds For Children of the Fallen, etc…
TRUTH TO POWER:
Healthy for the Media,
Good for Democracy–
Bad for "Our Due" Mind$et
Public Servants
MORAL MULTI-TASKING:
~A Question of Courage
in a Measure of Character~
~For the Asking!
Reposted July '06 @:
http://www.kyndmusic.com/2006/07/01/artist-general-warning-recusal-question-bad-for-bush/
Comment by Artist General — April 21, 2007 @ 3:59 am
Here. here Brent. Tenet should fork everything over to the families of the children who helped send into the war.
Comment by Chris Calbi — April 21, 2007 @ 10:40 am
Tenet belongs in prison! He is guilty of war crimes! If he is ever convicted of war crimes and sent to prison, he may be able to barter, using his medal of freedom, to keep from being nailed in the showers. On the other hand, the medal of freedom may do him no good.
Comment by ChingarraSan — April 21, 2007 @ 2:36 pm
Excellent montage on one of bush's war-mongering trolls, devoid of any and all conscience, and who has the gall to desecrate any medals produced with funds belonging to We THe People. Don't forget who was sitting to the left of this gargoyle but none-other-than the phony intelligence czar extraordinaire negroponte(as powell was using up all his credibility lying through his teeth in front of the impotent u.n. but then again, they probably enjoy being lied to like the s&m rejects/war profiteers that they all are)…the Light of Truth is upon this cadre of criminals not just in the bush administration but all around the world who are feeding into this treacherous military industrial complex and their feeble, primitive little toys. the true destiny of this world do not harmonize up with the distorted vision spewing out of prick cheney's mouth or the impaired idiocy of fugwb nor the words of discomfort richard perle is pulling out of his lower posterior orifice. CYANIDE WATCH EVERYONE! they'll drop like flies when there is no where else to hide. The 'Sleeping Giant' has awakened! Translation: We The People!
xoxoKavika
Comment by Kavika LoveAll — April 21, 2007 @ 5:24 pm
Why isnt people as tenet not in jail over this war based on lies,and told by bush and his gang of thugs?
Comment by B.E.Meadows — April 22, 2007 @ 8:24 am
Tenet is just one of the propagada chiefs under the Bush Regime. Again I am forced to insert this simple message into a story that speaks deeply of the bigger crimes and evil infesting the white house. So here is a simple dictionary definition that needs to be put out in front of the nation. Take a hard look at definition 3 and compare to a certain individual and group of people sitting in the white house… (lower case intentional).
dic•ta•tor (dik-”tA-t&r, dik-’)
n.
1 in ancient Rome, a magistrate with supreme authority, appointed in times of emergency
2 a ruler with absolute power and authority, esp. one who exercises it tyrannically
3 a person who orders others about domineeringly, or one whose pronouncements on some subject are meant to be taken as the final word
4 a person who dictates words for another to write down
Etymology
[ME dictatour
Comment by James Chastain — April 22, 2007 @ 1:10 pm
Thank you!
We The People are not stupid.
We will not buy George Tenet's book.
He and others nondeserving the
Medal of Freedom and took them
dishonestly, have tarnished them.Shame!
Comment by Angela — April 22, 2007 @ 8:35 pm
It was obvious to me, in 2003, that we had contained Saddam. Why would we think he had biological, chemical, and/or nuclear weapons? Why would we think he was even close to being an imminent threat to the U.S. national interest? For those who defend this disastrous war on the guise that, regardless, it was reasonable to believe Saddam had WMD I ask: at the time of the invasion, we had U.N. weapons inspectors diligently working to uncover any banned weapons … why weren't the weapons inspectors finish the job? Shouldn't the Bush Administration have listened to these inspector when they said, a mere two weeks prior to the U.S. invasion, that they had found no weapons at the very locations cited by the U.S. as most troubling????? This is the behavior of an administration that was determined to go to war with Iraq—no matter what, regardless of the facts. Tenet and other Bush Administration officials should stop trying to rationalize their irresponsible behavior. This war—a tragedy in every possible way—has led to so much needless death, destruction, mayhem, and global ill-will. And they are responsible for it.
Comment by Joe Mitchell — April 26, 2007 @ 8:09 pm
Joe Mitchell, it is true that two weeks prior to the invasion Bush's plans could not be stopped. That was probably true even two months prior to the invasion. But I will also contend this:
Saddam Hussenin has turned the inspections into a game. He was supposed to allow the inspectors to go anywhere at any time, but he made it very difficult. The results of these inspections could not in any reasonable sense be called conclusive. You would not trust a police murder investigation where the main suspect was at liberty to postpone searches of his house at will, nor was it reasonable to trust the results of this inspections. Here's the beginning of an article of The Telegraph in the UK from 11/16/2002:
"Don't mess with us, UN warns Saddam
By Marcus Warren at the United Nations
Last Updated: 1:14am GMT 16/11/2002
The United Nations' chief weapons inspector, Dr Hans Blix, warned Saddam Hussein last night that there must be no "cat and mouse" games on the ground in Iraq.
Hours before leaving the UN in New York to resume inspections after a four-year break, Dr Blix used unusually tough language to insist on full co-operation from the Iraqi regime."
What you're doing is revising history. You're also not mentioneing that he was shooting at US planes and that somehow that was supposed to be an accepted status quo. You're also forgetting that the corrupt oil for food program and the acceptance of the inspection regime as it existed could very credibly lead to Saddam getting of the hook completely. You're not mentioning that he wasn't living up to the terms of surrender in the first Gulf War.
I've lived in situations where EVERYONE spoke only untruths. To me ill-will of the corrupt and self-interested world means nothing. Saddam Hussein was the main cupprit in leading to needless death and destructions. When you feel contempt for murderers with more passion than contempt for the incompetent, you will regain your morality.
Comment by Igor R. — April 28, 2007 @ 4:13 pm