Posted on 05/31/2002 7:06:54 PM PDT by Lucky2
... He indicated that though there was no absolute proof of the CIA's guilt in leaking the memo to CBS (the most anti-Bush of the non-cable networks), it was all but certain ...The plan backfired. The president's poll numbers held; Democrat poll numbers plummeted, at least on national security issues. The grimmest irony for the elites of our permanent government is the blowback from their bungled campaign of leaks and misdirection: the CIA and FBI are under closer scrutiny now than they ever were.
Move toward the Light, Carl.
But I should have seen the signs. This makes sense. The CIA has been clumsy, arguing that they had a plan all along to deal with bin Laden but were never allowed to do it. So now what happens when Shelby starts throwing lamps all over Capitol Hill? Memos and leaks start coming out about the White House and the FBI.
NOTHING came out about the CIA.
It would be sad if the memory of a heroic agent such as Johnny Spann were tarnished by a Director more interested in covering his ass than anything else.
However, there is an upside: this gives Rudolph Giuliani his dream shot to take down Al Qaeda. The man's a bulldog, and should be given his chance at payback.
Besides, the CIA needs a buttkicker up top.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
FYI.
Emphasizing the point. And you forgot to ping Shermy...
The Times story provided a number of new details, such as a Czech member of parliament, who had been briefed by the Czech intelligence services on this issue, said he believed the meeting with Atta may have been captured by airport surveillance cameras. This would imply that the meeting took place at the Prague airport.
Other reports place the meeting at a cafe at the Prague airport. There might be some confusion with an earlier Prague meeting between Atta and al-Ani, in June, 2000, which was also said to be in a cafe (I think in the city proper, not the airport).
It's failure was simply caused by the "no unsavory characters" limitation put on it, so it didn't need to leak this.
Of course there might have been some decisions by high CIA officials against using specific "unsavory characters" that were, in hindsight, deadly wrong.
But he wasn't kicked out was he? Why? Primarily because of the insistence of George HW Bush, as I recall from the articles at the time. He reassured the younger Bush that Tenet was OK....and as past CIA Director GHWB would know.
Or is it that Tenet knows alot more than Junior does about what's really going on here?
The plan worked perfectly, it put a lot of pressure on Bush, took the spotlight off of the CIA, and with the FBI fiasco of ignoring about as much as evidence as they would have needed, the CIA is sitting pretty. I don't know that the CIA leaked it, I doubt anybody ever will, but if it was, it succeeded. Too many tried to blame Bush, and this was one more piece of ammunition. Most of the problems (the real problems) seem to concern people left over from Clinton's administration, as well as the PC environment that ran rampant.
As far as poll numbers, FReepers should not place so much importance on them, otherwise they have selective memory - the elder Bush had higher numbers and it didn't get him re-elected.
Here's a thread where we discussed it. See esp. T.G.S's and my posts:
Czech Officials Say Story That Atta Met with Iraqi Agent in Prague May Be Wrong
And here's a follow-up article from the Czech press, much to hesitant to challenge the Western press it finds (or hopes) is "prestigious."
Czech Minister Doubts US Reports Questioning Atta's Contacts With Iraqi Agent
If there is disinfo going out there, the issue, for one, where the Anthrax came from, or its history, is surely an issue uncomfortable to someone.
Isikoff was the vehicle for the disinformation. But it is likely that it was somebody in an official position of some sort who gave him the story.
If there were a pool, my bet would be on September 11, 2002.
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