Posted on 02/12/2006 5:40:43 PM PST by prairiebreeze
The CIA's top counterterrorism officer was relieved of his position yesterday after months of turmoil atop the agency's clandestine service, according to three knowledgeable officials.
Robert Grenier, who spent most of his career undercover overseas, took charge of the Counterterrorism Center about a year ago after a series of senior jobs at the center of the Bush administration's national security agenda.
When al Qaeda struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001, Grenier was station chief in Islamabad, Pakistan. Among the agency's most experienced officers in southwest Asia, Grenier helped plan the covert campaign that preceded the U.S. military ouster of al Qaeda and its Taliban allies from Afghanistan.
By the summer of 2002, with President Bush heading toward war in Iraq, then-Director of Central Intelligence George J. Tenet recalled Grenier to headquarters and promoted him to chief of a newly created Iraq Issues Group. His staff ballooned as the administration planned and launched the invasion in March 2003.
Grenier's predecessor at the Counterterrorism Center, who remains undercover, moved on to become chief of the National Clandestine Service, the successor to the CIA's directorate of operations. Sources said the two men differ sharply in style.
Grenier, 51, is said by associates to be a polished and smooth-talking man with museum-quality mementos of his service overseas. His boss at the clandestine service, the nation's senior human intelligence officer, was said to regard him as insufficiently forceful in the battle with al Qaeda.
"The word on Bob was that he was a good officer, but not the one for the job and not quite as aggressive as he might have been," one official said.
Colleagues in the clandestine service, sources said, had been aware of the poor working relationship between the two men for some time...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Oh, he will be. I'm also sure he's been reminded of that little paper he signed when he was employed and told that we are now enforcing that. I think his choice was to leave the service and keep his mouth shut or spend the next 30 years doing hard time.
The way the Washington Post is whining I'm sure this guy was a great source for them.
Didn't some ex-CIA guy write a book recently about how if he had been left in Afghanistan to complete the CIA led attack on the Taliban..and hunt for Osama Bin Ladin...
we would have had him by now...because HE (the author) knew he was still in Tora Bora...
BUT, Bush Admin. screwed up by sending him and his CIA group to Iraq???
Thanks for the ping, prairie. It seems to me that there are such serious threats to this country and its people and that so many are working so hard and so diligently to thwart those threats and actual horrors we can only begin to imagine, that the actions of the MSM and other enemies of this country and its safety, some of whom are in our own government, are just unbelievable. Do they not understand or do they not care? I don't know the answer.
Different guy..
Yea I know ... just thought it was weird how he worked for the CIA also
IMO, probably a leaker or complicit in some matter that was less than confidential.
Second choice is incompetance, but given the house cleaning Goss has been performing I'd wager the first.
Plus it makes it hard to tell who is who when googling
When is his book scheduled for release?
I think we will see more of these moves by Goss...some we will know they were fired...others will be allowed to retire or resign(like the Judge from the FISA court)to avoid the mess of charging them with leaking.
I think they meant leakers, didn't they?
Robert Grenier, who spent most of his career undercover overseas
Can somebody explain to me why THIS disclosure by the New York Times is any different than the Valerie Plame affair?
See my post above this one.
Exactly. On a government salary?
At the hearing the other week .. Goss did make a quick comment about the investigation and a leaker(s?) at the CIA .. he didn't go into further comment about it though
How is the WP naming this guy as covert different than Valerie Plame? Won't this "damage" the CIA?
Hmmmmmmmmmm. Calling Vince Flynn. We need Mitch Rapp.
Robert Grenier reminds of one of the characters in a Vince Flynn book. IIRC the name of the book is "Third Option".
Also, I might add, the plot of "Third Option" has to do with the supplying of WMD to Saddam Hussein (whosane to some) before 9/11.
His columns in the Washington Times were always a pleasure to read.
Not exactly - Gary (Berntsen) makes the suggestion that if we would have sent in more U.S. troops (Rangers) we could have sealed off UBL from escaping from Tora Bora.
Gary is simply looking to sell books (and probably does wishfully think that UBL was there) - The reality is UBL most likely left the Tora Bora Mtn range about 7-10 prior to the operation Gary Bernsten was part of.
Bernsten has the right attitude / aggressive ideas regarding the WOT.....but he hasn't been so wise of late.
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