Bush doubted WMD reports- (misled by tenet)

ny post ^ | 4/17/2004 | BRIAN BLOMQUIST

[vp_cal]

April 17, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - CIA director George Tenet confidently assured a skeptical President Bush before the Iraq war that it was a "slam-dunk case" that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, according to a bombshell new book by Bob Woodward. Tenet provided his ironclad guarantee to the president after an aide led a Dec. 21, 2002, intelligence presentation at the White House featuring communication intercepts, satellite photos and diagrams.

[GreyFriar]

Yep, Woodward's greatest scam is getting his fiction sold as non-fiction

[Spotsy]

Everyone is forgetting that up until now, we have been told that Cheney strong-armed the CIA to manufacture intel to back the war in Iraq.

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Now Woodward tells us Tenet assured Bush that it was a "slam dunk?"

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Any chance that Woodward is trying to draw out Tenet? Or is this Woodward's way of supporting Bush, while making $ at the time.

[Grampa Dave]

Woodward has the same credibility that Breslin has. He created the mythical Deep Throat and caused the resignation Nixon. This is another fable created by this whacked out Lunatic Lib fiction writer pretending to be a reporter.

This is just the latest chapter in the Lunatic Libs attempt to electronically lynch GW and his cabinet members with lies, myths, fables and spinning of all three.

[Grampa Dave]

"So the President and Vice President are alone and Woodward is capable of quoting them. I simply don't believe any of these descriptions of events compiled by Woodward."

Woodward has permanently damaged his brain with too many chemicals. He has these fantasies about what people do in private and presents them as fact.

He got by creating the mythical Deep Throat, and he is trying fable creation again in this book.

[William McKinley]

If this is true, then he wasn't misled by Tenet. Tenet was wrong. Two very different things.

[ovrtaxt]

Considering Woodward's reputation, this book belongs in the Fiction aisle.

[pepperhead]

Any chance that Woodward is trying to draw out Tenet? Or is this Woodward's way of supporting Bush, while making $ at the time.

When you are talking about Woodward, who knows what to believe. I am guessing there might be more calls for Tenet's head. What does Tenet do? Does he quit? Does make Bush fire him? Does he say Woodward is a liar? Is Woodward hoping Tenet tries and bring down Bush with him. Tenet seems like a classy guy. But how much can you really trust a Clinton appointee. This could get real interesting.

[bushfamfan]

I'd like to know why President Bush spent time allowing Woodward to interview him? Did he know Woodward was going to do another one of these books? And Bush is the only one identified-the others chose to remain anonymous 'sources'. There's always some fiction in these things, but a large part of this is to be believed by the people. I am always skeptical of everything I read, knowing there is some incorrect information in these books. As for Franks, I believe he's given interviews recently saying how Bush was not eager to go to war as the media and critics claim with Iraq, but when approached with the possibility said he agreed. Franks himself has cited Saddam Hussein's repeated verbal threats in speeches, etc. over the decade since the Gulf War and mentioned how it showed intent, so General Franks knows Iraq was a legitimate target(he's the only one in the circle who has mentioned Saddam Hussein's threats to our safety-I wish the President and his team would highlight that as part of his hostilities and why Iraq was a threat to us). As for doubts about the WMD-this President is not the only one to mention this threat. Clintoon and his lousy administration were repeatedly warning of Iraq and WMD, the world intelligence was consistent on it, the UN, John F'n Kerry, Demonrats are all on record in belief that Iraq was a threat WITH WMD. I'm sick of this claim that somehow the Bush administration made it up when all are on record with this. The media will continue to attempt to do damage to this President with this book and all the rest. I just hope Bush will call the Demonrats and their comments on the threat Saddam Hussein's Iraq was with WMD and their complete hypocrisy.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"To liberals, everyone is either supposed to be all for something (e.g. global warming treaties, abortion, UN resolutions), or else everyone is supposed to be all against something (e.g. death penalty, prayer in school, war, etc.)."

Collectivism.

"But you don't want JFK-style groupthink"

Collectivism.

"In this manner a key decision maker like the President can more accurately weigh which argument is best for our nation."

Individualism.

Left vs. right.

[Piranha]

In my opinion, the biggest problem was getting Powell to buy in by making him argue the case to the UN. At his speech he really drilled into the WMD (the rolling laboratories, etc.), over and over and over again. If he had spoken of human rights, or Saddam's refusal to permit verification, the Bush Administration would not have been on the defensive over the failure (so far) to uncover them.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Of course reality or Truth has nothing to do with this RATmedia operation to destroy the President. The latter is the ONLY important factor.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Come on, a guy who can interview a man in a coma could hardly be stopped from quoting from a conversation he never heard. Maybe he has been reading Thucydides.

[justshutupandtakeit]

RATmedia selects WHO will be on the shows. It will NEVER give Bush an even break.

[GraniteStateConservative]

To my conservative mind, the comments by Tenet regarding WMD's, if true, exonerate Bush.

Bush hasn't fired Tenet. How can Bush be exonerated until that happens?

[GraniteStateConservative]

The two points aren't necessarily separate regardless of whether they are true. It's possible that Cheney strong-armed and that Tenet cited it as slam dunk as a part of the strong-arming.

[GraniteStateConservative]

I think the allegation is that Cheney told Tenet to mislead Bush. It might explain why Tenet still has a job. You can't very well fire your VP.

[TOUGH STOUGH]

The comments about Tenet should exonerate Bush even in the minds of liberals, if they are true and if there really were no WMD's. But liberals want Bush to be guilty so those comments won't even exonerate Bush in the Liberal mind even if WMD's are eventually found, as I believe they will be.

BTW, just because they haven't been found in mass quantities yet, does not mean they won't be and it also does not mean that Tenet was wrong. Bush probably believes they were there, are yet to be found and in that case sees no justification for firing Tenet.

[William McKinley]

I'd be really interesting where you came up with that unusual spin on what is in this article, seeing as the article neither states that nor hints at it.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Just explaining a easy-to-get-to way to having it that Tenet mislead Bush and that Cheney strong-armed the CIA. I didn't say it was true, but it's certainly possible, and it does explain the inexplicable-- Tenet's job security. It's not like I said Tenet's mind was controlled by space aliens.

[GraniteStateConservative]

I'd also say that it's public knowledge that there was incorrect info on WMD from our "sources." Kay has talked about how pissed he is about this guy and about the fact that he's living just fine right now free from punishment. Chalabi has also made statements that could be interpreted that he was part of a plot to get Bush to do something he wasn't totally sold on.