Replies

>> Why did Tenet claim that such an important task requested by the Vice President did not require his overview? <<

The Vice President's office has already indicated that there was no such request for a Niger mission. They did inquire on a routine regular basis on the situation in Niger, but did not indicate in any manner that they required a specific inquiry. Mid level managers in the CIA initiated the Niger mission, most likely in an effort to gain "brownie points".

True the VP's office has said that Cheney didn't ask for the mission but he did meet with the CIA on various occasions to discuss issues related to Iraq and WMD. I grant you that the letter from Reps Kucinich, Maloney and Sanders (Marxists all) to Cheney in which they claimed that he had actually requested the Wilson trip, isn't much to go by. But only the Veep himself, and not his staff, can put this subject to bed.

Finally, nothing that has been posted absolves Tenet from some truly stupid administrative mismanagment that has brought discredit on the administration.