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George Tenet resigns as CIA director
WASHINGTON — George Tenet will resign as CIA director, President Bush announced Thursday, ending the increasingly stormy tenure of a man under fire for the department's intelligence before the Iraq war.
CIA Director George Tenet testifies in April before the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
By Eileen Blass, USA TODAY
In a brief appearance this morning before leaving for Europe, Bush told reporters he had met Wednesday night with Tenet at the White House.
"He told he me was resigning for personal reasons. I told him I was sorry he was leaving," Bush said. (Video: Bush's statement)
Tenet will serve until mid-July and will be temporarily replaced by Deputy Director John McLaughlin, Bush said.
The president gave no other reason for Tenet's departure. "George Tenet is the kind of public servant you like to work with," Bush said.
"I send my blessings to George and his family and look forward to working with him until he leaves the agency," Bush said.
THE TENET FILE
George Tenet, 51, a New York native, has a long history in the intelligence community.
He directed the CIA since 1997. Tenet had been the agency's deputy director from 1995-96, when he became acting director after John Deutch's resignation.
He had served as special assistant to the president and senior director for intelligence programs at the National Security Council. Before the NSC, he served on President Clinton's national security transition team.
From 1988-93, he was staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Prior to that role, Tenet directed the committee's supervision of arms control negotiations between the former Soviet Union and the United States.
Married with one son, Tenet has a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University.
Sources: CIA, AP
Tenet had been under fire for months in connection with intelligence failures related to the U.S.-led war against Iraq, specifically assertions the United States made about Saddam Hussein's purported possession of weapons of mass destruction, and with respect to the threat from the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
He has survived rumors for months that he would be forced out of his position. Last summer, he was been blamed for President Bush's unsubstantiated charge in his State of the Union address that Iraq sought to buy uranium for nuclear weapons from Africa.
"The long knives are out, no doubt about it," said Richard Stolz, who headed the CIA's clandestine service under the elder President Bush, said last July. But Tenet survived that controversy.
During his seven years at the CIA, speculation at times has swirled around whether Tenet would retire or be forced out, peaking after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and surging again after the flawed intelligence estimates about Iraq's fighting capability.
Tenet drew one particularly unusual assignment: trying to ease tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. He tried to curb the violence and prompt talks on strengthening security arrangements. Like virtually all special U.S. mediators, his efforts had mixed results.
Even when his political capital appeared to be tanking, Tenet managed to hang on with what some say was a fierce loyalty to Bush and the CIA personnel. A likable, chummy personality, also helped keep him above water.
Conventional wisdom had been that Tenet, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, did not plan to stay on next year, no matter who won the White House. Tenet has been on the job since July 1997, an unusually lengthy tenure in a particularly taxing era for the intelligence community that he heads.
Among possible successors is House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla. and a former CIA agent, and McLaughlin.
Key Democrats have called for Tenet's resignation in the past. A week ago, former Vice President Al Gore called for Tenet and several other top administration officials to resign in wake of Iraq developments. The former presidential candidate was gentler on Tenet, describing him as a friend and "honorable man" who should still leave his position for intelligence failures.
Notwithstanding his controversial place in the life of Washington, Tenet's resignation seemed to take the city by surprise.
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said: "He served his country a long time. History will tell what the implications of his tenure were."
"I think history will tell," the Illinois Republican said when asked how Tenet's performance would be judged. "It's too early to make that snap judgment."
"I think history will either vindicate him or say, 'Hey there was a problem there'," Hastert said.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called Tenet "an honorable and decent man who has served his country well in difficult times, and no one should make him a fall guy for anything."
Stansfield Turner, the CIA director in Jimmy Carter's administration, told MSNBC that Tenet had "done a good job," but had two major problems: The aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks and the intense administration pressure to accept the theory of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
"He wasn't shielded from that pressure and he was not given the authority to run the intelligence community," Turner said.
Contributing: USATODAY.com's Randy Lilleston and Steve Marshall and The Associated Press.
George Tenet resigns as CIA director
WASHINGTON — George Tenet will resign as CIA director, President Bush announced Thursday, ending the increasingly stormy tenure of a man under fire for the department's intelligence before the Iraq war.
CIA Director George Tenet testifies in April before the panel investigating the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.
By Eileen Blass, USA TODAY
In a brief appearance this morning before leaving for Europe, Bush told reporters he had met Wednesday night with Tenet at the White House.
"He told he me was resigning for personal reasons. I told him I was sorry he was leaving," Bush said. (Video: Bush's statement)
Tenet will serve until mid-July and will be temporarily replaced by Deputy Director John McLaughlin, Bush said.
The president gave no other reason for Tenet's departure. "George Tenet is the kind of public servant you like to work with," Bush said.
"I send my blessings to George and his family and look forward to working with him until he leaves the agency," Bush said.
THE TENET FILE
George Tenet, 51, a New York native, has a long history in the intelligence community.
He directed the CIA since 1997. Tenet had been the agency's deputy director from 1995-96, when he became acting director after John Deutch's resignation.
He had served as special assistant to the president and senior director for intelligence programs at the National Security Council. Before the NSC, he served on President Clinton's national security transition team.
From 1988-93, he was staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Prior to that role, Tenet directed the committee's supervision of arms control negotiations between the former Soviet Union and the United States.
Married with one son, Tenet has a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University.
Sources: CIA, AP
Tenet had been under fire for months in connection with intelligence failures related to the U.S.-led war against Iraq, specifically assertions the United States made about Saddam Hussein's purported possession of weapons of mass destruction, and with respect to the threat from the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
He has survived rumors for months that he would be forced out of his position. Last summer, he was been blamed for President Bush's unsubstantiated charge in his State of the Union address that Iraq sought to buy uranium for nuclear weapons from Africa.
"The long knives are out, no doubt about it," said Richard Stolz, who headed the CIA's clandestine service under the elder President Bush, said last July. But Tenet survived that controversy.
During his seven years at the CIA, speculation at times has swirled around whether Tenet would retire or be forced out, peaking after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and surging again after the flawed intelligence estimates about Iraq's fighting capability.
Tenet drew one particularly unusual assignment: trying to ease tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. He tried to curb the violence and prompt talks on strengthening security arrangements. Like virtually all special U.S. mediators, his efforts had mixed results.
Even when his political capital appeared to be tanking, Tenet managed to hang on with what some say was a fierce loyalty to Bush and the CIA personnel. A likable, chummy personality, also helped keep him above water.
Conventional wisdom had been that Tenet, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, did not plan to stay on next year, no matter who won the White House. Tenet has been on the job since July 1997, an unusually lengthy tenure in a particularly taxing era for the intelligence community that he heads.
Among possible successors is House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, R-Fla. and a former CIA agent, and McLaughlin.
Key Democrats have called for Tenet's resignation in the past. A week ago, former Vice President Al Gore called for Tenet and several other top administration officials to resign in wake of Iraq developments. The former presidential candidate was gentler on Tenet, describing him as a friend and "honorable man" who should still leave his position for intelligence failures.
Notwithstanding his controversial place in the life of Washington, Tenet's resignation seemed to take the city by surprise.
On Capitol Hill, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said: "He served his country a long time. History will tell what the implications of his tenure were."
"I think history will tell," the Illinois Republican said when asked how Tenet's performance would be judged. "It's too early to make that snap judgment."
"I think history will either vindicate him or say, 'Hey there was a problem there'," Hastert said.
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., called Tenet "an honorable and decent man who has served his country well in difficult times, and no one should make him a fall guy for anything."
Stansfield Turner, the CIA director in Jimmy Carter's administration, told MSNBC that Tenet had "done a good job," but had two major problems: The aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks and the intense administration pressure to accept the theory of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
"He wasn't shielded from that pressure and he was not given the authority to run the intelligence community," Turner said.
Contributing: USATODAY.com's Randy Lilleston and Steve Marshall and The Associated Press.
publicado por MP às 17:08
