Jackson Free Press

In the wake of the George Tenet explosion in Washington, The New York Times editorial board today calls for answers—honest ones—from the people who took the U.S. into a bad war with little regard for the truth, getting it or giving it:

Surely no one beyond a handful of the most self-deluded Republicans in Congress was surprised at the disclosure by George Tenet, the former intelligence director, that there was never a serious debate in the Bush administration about whether Iraq actually posed a threat to the United States. It has long been evident that President Bush decided to invade Iraq first, and constructed his ramshackle case for the war after the fact. So why, after all this time, are Americans still in the dark about the details of that campaign?

For that matter, why don't Americans know the full truth about Mr. Bush's illegal domestic spying program or his decisions on how to handle prisoners of the war on terror? And now there are new questions begging for answers — about the purge of United States attorneys and about campaign pep rallies in executive branch agencies that might well have violated federal law.

For six years, the Republican majority in Congress ignored the administration's power grabs, misdeeds and incompetence or, worse, pushed through laws that gave legislative cover to some of Mr. Bush's most outrageous abuses of power. Now that the Democrats control Congress, they have opened the doors of government in welcome ways. But the list of questions just seems to grow.

We hope Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, enforces the subpoena of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss prewar claims about Saddam Hussein's long-gone weapons programs. Ms. Rice, who was national security adviser before the war, says she has answered every possible question. Actually, we don't have room for all our questions

Previous Comments

ID

112455

Comment

I saw this on Fox News tonight, as I was preparing to watch the story on Frank. I don't know why Tenet accepted the role of being the fall guy in the first place. A couple of other things also happened that made me believe that the war was being established on false pretenses: Project For the New American Century and that Bush was so ready to go to war while the inspectors were still in Iraq. My theory is that Hans Blix, who was days away from releasing his report on WMDs, was going to present evidence that Bush didn't want to hear and so to cover it up, he rushed the effort to go to war. And now, to think of how many lies and money was lost is depressing.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-04-29T21:03:37-06:00

ID

112456

Comment

I watched George Tenant on 60 minutes last night. Very passionate presentation… But, remember he was on the team until someone gave him the boot! Egocentrics are always pointing fingers. Bet you it was Tricky Dicky who gave him the push. The other thing that bothers me is the 4 million he got to tell his story… The more theatrical the more books that will sell. Remember Robert McNamara?

Author

Truthseeker

Date

2007-04-30T08:43:07-06:00

ID

112457

Comment

More on Tenet explosion.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-04-30T09:22:06-06:00

ID

112458

Comment

Who believes anything Tenet says? He has no credibility. If all he says were true, why speak up now? Why not then? It's all very suspect and self-serving. HDMatthias, MD

Author

HDMatthias, MD

Date

2007-04-30T16:26:15-06:00