Friday, January 26, 2007
The Empire Strikes Back
Lost in all the folderol about whether Cheney's office "owns" Tim Russert is an even bigger bombshell:
At length, Martin explained how she, Libby and deputy national security adviser Steve Hadley worked late into the night writing a statement to be issued by George Tenet in 2004 in which the CIA boss would take blame for the bogus claim in Bush's State of the Union address that Iraq was seeking nuclear material in Africa.So the OVP was determining what Tenet would say about who's responsible for the Niger yellowcake cockup? If they had to manipulate and stage-manage something as simple as Tenet's statement, how do they expect us to believe that they didn't lie us into war?
After "delicate" talks, Tenet agreed to say the CIA "approved" the claim and "I am responsible" -- but even that disappointed Martin, who had wanted Tenet to say that "we did not express any doubt about Niger."
