Ithaca Blog

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Hey, George Tenet: You Can't Cheat an Honest Man

George Tenet, ex-director of the CIA, has written a book he is promoting in the media like crazy - really like crazy, with a pronounced lunatic air to his demeanor - about his tenure in the Dick Cheney administration, and the lies that led to the war in Iraq.

Tenet is screaming about being scapegoated as the source of bad intelligence. He says that the administration intended to go to war no matter what the intelligence said, so he is innocent, and he is railing against his portrayal as a guilty party.

But he is a guilty party. He knew the intelligence did not justify war, but he went along with the deceit. He signed on to the whole program. When Colin Powell lied in front of the United Nations, Tenet literally sat at his right hand.

Now he is complaining that he is being singled out for his dishonesty, and cheated of his reputation. Well.

As the saying goes, you can't cheat an honest man.

If Tenet had done what he knew was right, and acted truthfully, this wouldn't be happening to him.

And of course, much more importantly, the war in Iraq might not be happening. The 3,000 American soldiers killed there need not have died. The countless Iraqi lives that have been taken or ruined might still be intact. We might have retained the respect of the world, instead of creating cynicism and hatred the results of which are chilling to contemplate.

We are sorry for your troubles, George. Too bad you didn't think better of yourself, and of your responsibilities. It is entirely too bad.

Stephen Burke
for Ithaca Blog

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