Post by bot on Jun 3, 2004 20:24:06 GMT -5
Tenet: Resigning with head 'very, very high'
John McLaughlin to be next CIA chief
Thursday, June 3, 2004 Posted: 8:53 PM EDT (0053 GMT)
www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/03/tenet.resigns/index.html
George Tenet talks Thursday with members of the CIA staff at the agency's headquarters about his resignation.
GEORGE TENET
Sworn in: Director of Intelligence, July 11, 1997
Previously: Special Assistant to the President and Sr. Director for Intelligence Programs, National Security Council; President Clinton's national security transition team
Education: BSFS, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service; MIA, Columbia University School of International Affairs
Personal: New York native, married to A. Stephanie Glakas-Tenet. One son: John Michael.
Source: CIA
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After being dogged by heavy criticism over questionable intelligence on Iraq and terrorism since the September 11, 2001 attacks, George Tenet resigned Thursday as the director of the CIA.
"I tell you about my plans to depart with sadness, but with head held very, very high," Tenet told CIA employees at the agency's Langley, Virginia, headquarters.
"And while Washington and the media will put many different faces on the decision, it was a personal decision, and had only one basis -- in fact, the well-being of my wonderful family -- nothing more and nothing less."
The first word of Tenet's resignation came from President Bush a few hours earlier when he talked to reporters after meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
Bush also announced that Deputy CIA Director John McLaughlin will become the agency's acting chief once Tenet steps down next month. Interactive: John McLaughlin background
"George Tenet is the kind of public servant you like to work with," Bush told reporters at the White House.
"He's strong, he's resolute. He's served his nation as the director for seven years. He has been a strong and able leader at the agency. He's been a strong leader in the war on terror, and I will miss him."On the Scene: CNN's David Ensor on the resignation
The announcement seemed to take much of Washington by surprise. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi both said they had no advance notice of Tenet's departure.
Tenet said his resignation will be effective July 11 -- the seventh anniversary of his 1997 appointment by then-President Bill Clinton.
During Tenet's time in office, he led the CIA through the 1999 conflict in Kosovo, the al Qaeda terror attacks on New York, Virginia and rural Pennsylvania, and the wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Tenet has enjoyed a lifetime of public service
In his remarks to employees, he praised the agency's "magnificent work" -- but he added, "Our record is not without flaws."
"The world of intelligence is a uniquely human endeavor, and as in all human endeavors we all understand the need to always do better," Tenet said. "We are not perfect, but one of our best-kept secrets is that we are very, very, very good."
Another key CIA official, James Pavitt -- the CIA's deputy director of operations who oversees all covert operations -- plans to announce his resignation Friday, U.S. sources told CNN Thursday.
The sources said Pavitt's resignation is "entirely unrelated" to Tenet's -- that Pavitt's plan to resign has been in the works for three to four weeks.
Pavitt, who has spent 30 years in the intelligence business, including the last five years as the CIA's deputy director of operations, testified before the 9/11 commission in mid-April. It marked the first time in the agency's history that someone of his position testified publicly.
'He's being pushed out or made a scapegoat'
Tenet has faced sharp criticism over the September 11 terror attacks and the war in Iraq, where pre-invasion U.S. estimates that Iraq was amassing stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction now appear to have been incorrect.
Several key lawmakers -- including Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee -- have called for his resignation, and coming reports are expected to call for sweeping changes in the intelligence community.
Kerry released a statement saying he wished Tenet "the very best," but said the Bush administration has to take responsibility for "significant intelligence failures."
"Sometimes with change comes opportunity," Kerry said. "This is an opportunity for the president to lead. As I've said for some time, we must reshape our intelligence community for the 21st century and create a new position of director of national intelligence with real control of all intelligence personnel and budgets."
Sen. Richard Shelby, a former Intelligence Committee chairman, said Tenet's decision to step down as director of central intelligence was "long overdue."
John McLaughlin to be next CIA chief
Thursday, June 3, 2004 Posted: 8:53 PM EDT (0053 GMT)
www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/03/tenet.resigns/index.html
George Tenet talks Thursday with members of the CIA staff at the agency's headquarters about his resignation.
GEORGE TENET
Sworn in: Director of Intelligence, July 11, 1997
Previously: Special Assistant to the President and Sr. Director for Intelligence Programs, National Security Council; President Clinton's national security transition team
Education: BSFS, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service; MIA, Columbia University School of International Affairs
Personal: New York native, married to A. Stephanie Glakas-Tenet. One son: John Michael.
Source: CIA
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After being dogged by heavy criticism over questionable intelligence on Iraq and terrorism since the September 11, 2001 attacks, George Tenet resigned Thursday as the director of the CIA.
"I tell you about my plans to depart with sadness, but with head held very, very high," Tenet told CIA employees at the agency's Langley, Virginia, headquarters.
"And while Washington and the media will put many different faces on the decision, it was a personal decision, and had only one basis -- in fact, the well-being of my wonderful family -- nothing more and nothing less."
The first word of Tenet's resignation came from President Bush a few hours earlier when he talked to reporters after meeting with Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
Bush also announced that Deputy CIA Director John McLaughlin will become the agency's acting chief once Tenet steps down next month. Interactive: John McLaughlin background
"George Tenet is the kind of public servant you like to work with," Bush told reporters at the White House.
"He's strong, he's resolute. He's served his nation as the director for seven years. He has been a strong and able leader at the agency. He's been a strong leader in the war on terror, and I will miss him."On the Scene: CNN's David Ensor on the resignation
The announcement seemed to take much of Washington by surprise. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi both said they had no advance notice of Tenet's departure.
Tenet said his resignation will be effective July 11 -- the seventh anniversary of his 1997 appointment by then-President Bill Clinton.
During Tenet's time in office, he led the CIA through the 1999 conflict in Kosovo, the al Qaeda terror attacks on New York, Virginia and rural Pennsylvania, and the wars in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Tenet has enjoyed a lifetime of public service
In his remarks to employees, he praised the agency's "magnificent work" -- but he added, "Our record is not without flaws."
"The world of intelligence is a uniquely human endeavor, and as in all human endeavors we all understand the need to always do better," Tenet said. "We are not perfect, but one of our best-kept secrets is that we are very, very, very good."
Another key CIA official, James Pavitt -- the CIA's deputy director of operations who oversees all covert operations -- plans to announce his resignation Friday, U.S. sources told CNN Thursday.
The sources said Pavitt's resignation is "entirely unrelated" to Tenet's -- that Pavitt's plan to resign has been in the works for three to four weeks.
Pavitt, who has spent 30 years in the intelligence business, including the last five years as the CIA's deputy director of operations, testified before the 9/11 commission in mid-April. It marked the first time in the agency's history that someone of his position testified publicly.
'He's being pushed out or made a scapegoat'
Tenet has faced sharp criticism over the September 11 terror attacks and the war in Iraq, where pre-invasion U.S. estimates that Iraq was amassing stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction now appear to have been incorrect.
Several key lawmakers -- including Sen. John Kerry, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee -- have called for his resignation, and coming reports are expected to call for sweeping changes in the intelligence community.
Kerry released a statement saying he wished Tenet "the very best," but said the Bush administration has to take responsibility for "significant intelligence failures."
"Sometimes with change comes opportunity," Kerry said. "This is an opportunity for the president to lead. As I've said for some time, we must reshape our intelligence community for the 21st century and create a new position of director of national intelligence with real control of all intelligence personnel and budgets."
Sen. Richard Shelby, a former Intelligence Committee chairman, said Tenet's decision to step down as director of central intelligence was "long overdue."