Imagine that you’re in a large group of people gathered in the middle of a road. In the distance you notice a big-rig truck barreling toward you and everyone else.
Do you:
A. Scream, “Watch out people, we’re about to get hit by a truck!”
B. Try to usher everyone out of the road as fast as you can.
C. Not say anything, scoot off to the side and observe the tragedy. Then, happily accept a medal for your heroic actions and make bank writing a book about it.
If your name happened to be George Tenet, the crowd of people was called “the U.S.,” and the big-rig truck was named “the war in Iraq,” you would have definitely picked C.
Tenet was the director of the CIA during the events of Sept. 11, 2001, and in charge of the Bush administration’s desperate campaign to persuade the world that the U.S. and its allies should invade Iraq.
Tenet’s new book, self-importantly titled “At the Center of the Storm,” was released Monday and, according to MSNBC, describes how poor Mr. Tenet knew all along that 9/11 was going to happen and that the Bush administration’s reasons for going to war were ill-founded.
Tenet claims to have approached Condoleeza Rice, then the national security advisor, about the possibility of a terrorist attack July 10, 2001. He also wrote that he spoke up occasionally about how Iraq was considered to be a minimal threat while the president and vice president advised congress that Iraq was close to developing nuclear weapons.
Tenet, of course, attempts to blame the intelligence fiasco that led to the Iraq War on the Bush administration’s refusal to heed his advice. This is assuming, of course, that Tenet did in fact pass on these warnings ““ something that has been a source of contention and disagreement in the press.
Let’s just give Tenet the benefit of the doubt for a moment and pretend that he told the truth. According to the Los Angeles Times, Tenet knew that Vice President Dick Cheney’s claim in August of 2002 that there was “no doubt” that Iraq possessed WMDs was false. His response, according to his new book: He “let (his) silence imply agreement.”
Tenet, in a position of immense power and influence, did diddly.
I am not implying that Tenet could have single-handedly stopped the U.S. from invading Iraq. But maybe he could have written a little press release about his concerns before Congress voted to authorize the war.
Or he might have met with a few powerful members of congress to express his concerns. He even had the option of taking the high road and resigning in protest ““ an action that certainly would have caused the nation to think twice about Iraq.
Don’t let me mislead you, though. Tenet has acknowledged that he should have tried harder. Which in my mind makes him even more guilty than Cheney for the lies that the American people were told about Iraq.
I can entertain the idea that maybe the Bush administration believed the lies they were telling us. But for Tenet to admit that he was completely aware that the administration was lying and he did nothing in response makes him a special kind of coward.
But don’t get me wrong; despite having absolutely no moral backbone, Tenet is anything but stupid. If he had caused a big stir or resigned in 2001, he wouldn’t have been able to receive ““ and receive with a smile, I might add ““ the Medal of Freedom from Bush in 2004. He also wouldn’t currently be raking in the profits from his new book.
Tenet, citing personal reasons, resigned from his position with the CIA in 2004. He claimed he wanted to spend more time with his family. I think he wanted time to excise his demons ““ and his new book is a feeble attempt at justifying his disgraceful actions.
I agree with the group of ex-CIA officials who have called on Tenet to relinquish the Medal of Freedom he received. But I also think that Tenet has a moral obligation to donate every cent of profit he collects from that book to the families of the soldiers he helped to mislead.
Because profiting from lies is never right ““ and what better way for the rest of our nation’s leaders to learn than by example?
Would you have pushed Tenet in front of that big rig? E-mail Strickland at kstrickland@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.