April 29, 2007
At the Center of the Storm: A Demonstrable Lie
In a review of George Tenet's book "At the Center of the Storm", Michiko Kakutani reveals Tenet's claim that the Administration --or at least the neocons in it--were determined to get Saddam even before the facts were in. In support of this he recounts Tenet's tale:
On the day after 9/11, he adds, he ran into Richard Perle, a leading neoconservative and the head of the Defense Policy Board, coming out of the White House. He says Mr. Perle turned to him and said: "Iraq has to pay a price for what happened yesterday. They bear responsibility." This, despite the fact, Mr. Tenet writes, that "the intelligence then and now" showed "no evidence of Iraqi complicity" in the 9/11 attacks.
Unfortunately for Tenet and whoever( if anyone) was fact checking this whine-arama Perle was out of the country on 9/11 and confirmed to me today that he was unable to return home until 9/15/2001.
Some head of intelligence.
Update: I see that Bill Kristol spoke with Perle , too, and beat me to print.
Update: I see that Bill Kristol spoke with Perle , too, and beat me to print.