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It's all very strange.
Mr. Bush announced the resignation in a way that was almost bizarre. He had just addressed reporters and photographers in a fairly innocuous Rose Garden session with Australia's prime minister, John Howard. Then the session was adjourned...
...But minutes later, Mr. Bush reappeared on the sun-drenched White House lawn, stunning listeners with the news of Mr. Tenet's resignation, which the president said would be effective in mid-July. Until then, Mr. Bush said, the C.I.A.'s deputy director, John McLaughlin, will be acting director.
The president praised Mr. Tenet's qualities as a public servant, saying: "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, he's been a strong leader in the war on terror, and I will miss him."
Then Mr. Bush walked away, declining to take questions or offer any insight into what Mr. Tenet's personal reasons might be.
I really don't know quite what to make of this - whether he had had enough, wants to write a nasty memoir, thinks there's going to be some horrible CIA times in the near future and wants to avoid them, or was pushed. He was never the most vocal CIA critic of the administration, others were letting out far more damaging leaks, and he defended the administration in public... at least that's how it seemed to me. There's clearly a lot more going on though. I expect there will be plenty of "Washington insiders" commenting on this extremely soon.
I'm not going to let it bother me too much though. |
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