The man who did the most to publicly deny and obfuscate these connections between Saddam and Atta was none other than George Tenet, Bush's former director of the CIA.
Why Bush kept Tenet on, and continues to keep on hundreds of similar clintonoids in the CIA, FBI, State Department, Pentagon, and maybe even the NSA, is a complete mystery.
Clinton may have been a crook and a traitor, but at least he understood that cleaning out the administration and putting in his own people was job #1.
Tenet stood up day after day before the press and embarrassed the administration by denying any connection between Saddam and the terrorists. Bush just politely smiled and did nothing, for YEARS.
Anyone who thinks the administration is cleverly keeping all this concealed until the midterm elections are near, I have a bridge to sell them. The only thing that is destroying the Democrats is their perpetual habit of going too far and letting themselves go over the top in public. The administration has done relatively little to help themselves.
I think the rationale for keeping so many Clintinoids was part of the "new tone." There's also that reluctance to admitting any mistakes.
Oh really?
MARCH 19, 2002 Tuesday : (TENET TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS, DOES NOT RULE OUT STATE SPONSORSHIP OF 9/11 ATTACKS) CIA Director George J. Tenet, testifying before Congress last week, pointedly refused to rule out the possibility that Iraq or Iran may have been involved in the September 11 terrorist attacks on America. "There is no doubt that there may have been contacts and linkages to the al Qaeda organization," Mr. Tenet said when asked about Iraqi ties with Osama bin Laden's terror network. It "would be a mistake to dismiss the possibility of state sponsorship, whether Iranian or Iraqi" in connection with the attacks, the CIA director told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. "The distinctions between Sunni and Shia [Islamic denominations] that have traditionally divided terrorist groups are not distinctions you should make anymore, because there is a common interest against the United States and its allies in this region, and they will seek capability wherever they can get it," Mr. Tenet said. ---- "Still whitewashing Saddam , " The Washington Times, EDITORIAL , March 25, 2002
OCTOBER 7, 2002 : (CI A DIRECTOR TENET'S LETTER TO BOB GRAHAM, CHAIRMAN OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE) Regarding Senator Bayh's Evan Bayh, Democrat of Indiana question of Iraqi links to al-Qa'ida. Senators could draw from the following points for unclassified discussions:
Our understanding of the relationship between Iraq and al-Qa'ida is evolving and is based on sources of varying reliability. Some of the information we have received comes from detainees, including some of high rank.
We have solid reporting of senior level contacts between Iraq and al-Qa'ida going back a decade.
Credible information indicates that Iraq and al-Qa'ida have discussed safe haven and reciprocal nonaggression.
Since Operation Enduring Freedom, we have solid evidence of the presence in Iraq of al-Qa'ida members, including some that have been in Baghdad.
We have credible reporting that al-Qa'ida leaders sought contacts in Iraq who could help them acquire W.M.D. capabilities. The reporting also stated that Iraq has provided training to al-Qa'ida members in the areas of poisons and gases and making conventional bombs. Iraq's increasing support to extremist Palestinians coupled with growing indications of a relationship with al-Qa'ida, suggest that Baghdad's links to terrorists will increase, even absent U.S. military action."- Source : letter from CIA director Tenet to Bob Graham, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Oct 7, 2002 via 34 posted on 03/23/2004 10:30:34 PM PST by kcvl
FEBRUARY 11, 2003 : (WASHINGTON, DC : SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE HEARING : CIA DIRECTOR GEORGE TENET ON THE LINKAGE BETWEEN IRAQ AND AL QAEDA, INCLUDING IRAQ'S TRAINING OF AL QAEDA PERSONNEL IN DOCUMENT FORGERY, POISONS, GASSES & IN BOMBMAKING; TENET ALSO DISCUSSES THE DECISION OF RAISING OF THE TERROR THREAT LEVEL TO ORANGE AND THE PRESENCE OF AL QAEDA IN IRAQ AND IRAN) Senior Bush administration officials intensified the effort to make the case for military action against Saddam Hussein today, with testimony by Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and the director of central intelligence, George J. Tenet, linking Iraq and Al Qaeda. ...The hearing, an annual assessment of global threats, centered on Al Qaeda, Iraq and North Korea.... ...The administration's attempt to tie Iraq to Al Qaeda also included the most explicit public statement yet by Mr. Tenet, who told the Senate intelligence committee that intelligence officials had unearthed powerful evidence showing a connection.
Mr. Tenet's testimony was especially noteworthy because some Pentagon and White House officials had privately [* My note as in the usual "anonymous" way the press likes] complained that the C.I.A. was too reluctant to conclude there was an Iraq-Qaeda link.
Today Mr. Tenet said Iraq is "harboring" senior members of the Qaeda network like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who, Mr. Tenet said, assembled a terror cell last year from a base of operations in Baghdad.....
For Mr. Tenet, who sat silently behind Mr. Powell on Feb. 5 when the secretary presented the Bush administration's case against Iraq to the United Nations Security Council, the hearing today presented the country's intelligence chief with his first opportunity to publicly assess the intelligence on Saddam Hussein's leadership.
Mr. Tenet said the C.I.A. had carefully worded its accusations about Iraq, but he strongly supported the Bush administration's conclusion that an Iraq-Qaeda link had been firmly established even as some European officials, and some intelligence analysts within his own agency, have expressed skepticism about whether the information showed a direct Iraqi tie to Al Qaeda.
"Iraq has in the past provided training in document forgery and bombmaking to Al Qaeda," Mr. Tenet said. "It has also provided training in poisons and gases to two Al Qaeda associates. One of these associates characterized the relationship he forged with Iraqi officials as successful."
Mr. Tenet seemed to be trying to rebut skeptics among the allies and within his own agency. "This information is based on a solid foundation of intelligence," he said. "It comes to us from credible and reliable sources. Much of it is corroborated by multiple sources, and it is consistent with the pattern of denial and deception exhibited by Saddam Hussein over the past 12 years."...
Mr. Tenet said Mr. bin Laden's followers appeared to focus their terror planning on specific regions. "The information we have points to plots aimed at targets on two fronts — in the United States and on the Arabian peninsula," he said. "It points to plots timed to occur as early as the end of the hajj, which occurs late this week."
"And it points to plots that could include the use of a radiological dispersion device as well as poisons and chemicals," Mr. Tenet added, referring to devices like a "dirty bomb" that detonates with a conventional explosive, throwing radioactive material into the air. ... In his testimony, Mr. Tenet seemed to agree, defending the decision last Friday by the Bush administration to ratchet up the official threat level to Code Orange, saying it was based "not on idle chatter on the part of terrorists and their associates."
"It is the most specific we have seen, and it is consistent with both our knowledge of Qaeda doctrine and our knowledge of plots this network — and particularly its senior leadership — has been working on for years," Mr. Tenet said. "The intelligence community is working directly, and in real time, with friendly services overseas and with our law enforcement colleagues here at home to disrupt and capture specific individuals who may be part of this plot."
Mr. Tenet offered no further specifics about the plot, but his testimony reflected the rapidly rising tensions around the world in a period when the United States continues preparations for possible military action in Iraq, North Korea has threatened to resume its nuclear program and Iran has disclosed that it is nearly ready to enrich uranium to fuel its nuclear energy program.
"We see disturbing signs that Al Qaeda has established a presence in both Iran and Iraq," Mr. Tenet said. "In addition, we are concerned that Al Qaeda continues to find refuge in the hinterlands of Afghanistan and Pakistan." - "Top U.S. Officials Tell Lawmakers of Iraq-Qaeda Ties," By DAVID JOHNSTON, February 12, 2003 , http://iraqfoundation.org/news/2003/bfeb/12_ties.html
Fall victim to the MSM's dynamic duo, did you?
MARCH 20, 2002 Wednesday : (MAJOR PRESS OUTLETS NY TIMES & WASHINGTON POST DOWNPLAY CIA DIRECTOR TENET'S COMMENTS ON POSSIBLE STATE SPONSORSHIP OF 9/11 ATTACKS BY EXCLUDING THEM IN REPORTING OF HIS TESTIMONY) The CIA director's [Tuesday ] comments on possible state sponsorship of the September 11 attacks, reported in a separate story on the front page of this newspaper on Wednesday, didn't make it into accounts of his testimony published in The Washington Post or the New York Times that same day. It isn't difficult to see why this happens; many people in the mainstream media don't want to face the reality that Iraq or Iran may have had a hand in the butchery which took place on September 11. If it turns out that either of these regimes were involved, it would virtually ensure a vigorous U.S. military response against Tehran or Baghdad. That's a reality that many folks on the political left (and a few on the right) want to avoid at just about any cost. ---- "Still whitewashing Saddam , " The Washington Times, EDITORIAL , March 25, 2002