George Tenet Screamed About Jews In Saudi Prince's Pool: Book

The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg offers an interesting excerpt from "A World Of Trouble," a forthcoming book by Patrick Tyler on the White House and the Middle East. In this scene, CIA director George Tenet, drunk on scotch at Saudi Prince Bandar's pool, rants about Bush administration "Jews" who are "setting me up" to take the fall for the false WMD claims:

A servant appeared with a bottle. Tenet knocked back some of the scotch. Then some more. They watched with concern. He drained half the bottle in a few minutes.

"They're setting me up. The bastards are setting me up," Tenet said, but "I am not going to take the hit."

...

"According to one witness, he mocked the neoconservatives in the Bush administration and their alignment with the right wing of Israel's political establishment, referring to them with exasperation as, "the Jews."

Read more here.

Comments

[ObjectiveRealist]

03:39 AM on 12/22/2008

[
Tyler reports in a footnote that, when asked, Tenet initially denied staying at Prince Bandar's palace, then denied that he had said anything in the pool. "He disputed the remarks attributed to him and denied that his memory might have been affected by the amount of alcohol he was reported to have consumed on top of a sleeping pill," Tyler reports.
]

In other words, George Tenet does not remember drinking so much that he blacked out. That's a common symptom of excessive drinking.

[toocoldout]

08:43 AM on 12/18/2008

The neoconservatives may have come up with the original idea of invading Iraq but a lot of other people were convinced to go along including Bush, Cheny & congress.

[Poboy]

08:30 AM on 12/18/2008

Q. In whose interests where these "neo-cons" acting? whether they were "J.ews" or not?

A. That, I don't know, but this I do. They were not acting in the best interest of America!

[salzy1]

07:25 AM on 12/18/2008

It's always the fault of the Jews, isn't it? Even though Bush and Cheney were the ultimate deciders and even though there were many Christian Neo Cons who supported the invasion, it's always the Jews. We never are off the hook for anything. The majority of us,however, voted for Obama and deplore the NeoCons. We are such s small minority in this country (maybe 3%) but somehow we are faulted for many things. One thing I know for sure, a Jew will never win the White House because this country is a Christian nation and we are still feared and hated.

[UnknownSoldier]

12:27 PM on 12/18/2008

That is not true, If Bush won anyone can win the White House. Many people don't know that there are many varying view points within the J-E-W-Ish community. Not every Israeli or American J-E-W agrees with Israel position regarding when to wage war.

I know many of my friends were against the failed war in Lebanon a couple of years ago. Many of them thought reprehinsible that Israel would not make accomadations for U.S. Citizens to get out of harms way, then they got made at the Bush Adm for trying to charge American Citizens money for safe passage out of the war zone.

Anti Semitism is almost dead in the U.S. Anyone who holds Na$i like views are on the margins of society.

[ZenJu]

07:20 AM on 12/18/2008

How nice that racists can use the neologism "Neocon" as code for "Jew" and thus gain acceptance for their views! I'm Jewish, Zionist, pro-Israel, and yet {shock!} I'm very liberal, totally anti-BushCo, and anti-war! Sorry to bust the stereotype for y'all. My only real disappointment is how many of my fellow so-called "leftists" around the world support Islamist radicals, terror groups like Hizbullah and Hamas, and vilify Israel.
Wonder if THIS will get posted...

[LiberalProfessor]

11:02 AM on 12/18/2008

Hmmmm. Liberal Zionist.

So as a liberal you support "universal" human rights, right?

As a Zionist you support theft of land from a particular group who lives in a place that YOU think GOD said belongs to "your people?" No rational resaon.

So am I to understand Liberal Zionists support Human rights insofar as they do not infringe on their land theft from Palestinians?

Some "liberal."

[ZenJu]

03:54 AM on 12/19/2008

Nice try, "prof," but you need to go back to school and study the history of the Zionist movement, which was primarily secular and aimed at reestablishing the Jewish nation in our ancient homeland. The land of Israel is ours by virtue of history, as Jews have had a connection to Israel and Jerusalem since at least 1000BC. There has always been a Jewish presence here, even if conquerors, imperialists, and invaders have trampled on us, exiled us, murdered us. Zionism extended a hand of friendship to the Arabs since the beginning, and for a brief time, it was reciprocated (e.g., Weizmann and Faisal). In 1948, Ben-Gurion called upon the Arab inhabitants of Israel to stay and help build a new nation. Those who chose to remain have prospered and enjoy rights and freedoms that are only dimly glimpsed by the inhabitants of most Arab nations. Though Israel is imperfect (as every nation is imperfect), it is a bright and hopeful beacon in the Middle East.

[joeinvt]

05:57 AM on 12/18/2008

While Jews are overrepresented among Neocons, the majority of Neocons are Christian, e.g. Rumsfeld, Cheney, Bolten, G.W. & Jeb Bush, William Bennett, Vin Weber, and other founding members of the Project for a New American Century, proponents and architects of the Iraq war. Jews are also overrepresented among theoretical physicists, physicians, university professors, and people who voted for Barack Obama, etc. So?

From a numbers perspective, Tenet should have been railing against the "Christians" or at least have given them equal time in his diatribes against Wolfowitz and friends.. And what was Tenet doing in Prince Bandar's swimming pool? I would like to let loose with a scream over that.

[CaptainHowdy]

01:56 AM on 12/18/2008

The key Neocon players (according to the Christian Science Monitor)...

http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html?s=spusa

Irving Kristol

Norman Podhoretz

Paul Wolfowitz

Richard Perle

Douglas Feith

Lewis "Scooter" Libby

Elliott Abrams

Robert Kagan

Michael Ledeen

William Kristol

Frank Gaffney Jr.

[blowhard]

03:38 AM on 12/18/2008

Do they all belong to the chosen group?

[messy]

11:39 AM on 12/18/2008

Yeah, the Republican party.

[commie77]

04:46 AM on 12/18/2008

Isn't this just all complete BS? See statement from Abe Foxman:
http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/12/foxman_to_tenets_rescue.php

And the people who were in the room also say it is BS:
http://jeffreygoldberg.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/12/tenets_denial.php

Ah well, never let the facts get in the way of a good story...

[CaptainHowdy]

01:55 AM on 12/18/2008

The key Neocon players (according to the Christian Science Monitor)...

http://www.csmonitor.com/specials/neocon/index.html?s=spusa

Irving Kristol

Norman Podhoretz

Paul Wolfowitz

Richard Perle

Douglas Feith

Lewis "Scooter" Libby

Elliott Abrams

Robert Kagan

Michael Ledeen

William Kristol

Frank Gaffney Jr.

I don't know, looks like Tenet hit the nail on the head and has pointed out the PAINFULLY obvious elephant in the room, that so many Americans have been conditioned to ignore.

[blowhard]

03:39 AM on 12/18/2008

Are they all members of the synagogue?

[Stephen]

08:40 AM on 12/18/2008

All so ably supported by Scooter Libby in Cheney's Office, Judith Miller- pro war salesman reporter at the New York Times, Mr Sulzberger of the New York Times, Mr Graham of the Washington Post. The list needs to be more throughly developed. Then re-read Scooter Libby's poetic little consolation note to Judith Miller while she was in the slammer about the Aspen grove with their interconnecting roots beneath the ground.

Don't be dissuaded by the "anti-semitic" argument. A post mortem on on this sad chapter in American History will expose a significant role of neo-con Jews, military industrial complex, journalistic, and war profiteers, Christian identity, etc. influences that came together on this.

[yappnmutt]

01:31 AM on 12/18/2008

back to this again. they do dominate the movement that brought us the current foreign policy. they do lacking a proper grip on their mental facilities and they are what they are. so....what's wrong here ?

[cybertoothcat]

01:15 AM on 12/18/2008

Correct me if I'm wong, but isn't Dubya the "Decider"? You can't put this one on "the Jews" or anyone else but Cheney and Bush, "VP So" and "President So What".

[LMPE]

12:30 AM on 12/18/2008

It sounds as though Mel Gibson now has a partner.

[hrhkat29]

11:27 PM on 12/17/2008

SO NOW I KNOW WHAT NEOCONSERVTIVE MEANS!

all this time the people on huffingtonpost would talk about how awful neoconservatives were...but they were just meaning "Jews"...so they used neoconservative instead of saying jews so they didnt look racist...wow

[kelcuk]

10:10 PM on 12/17/2008

Sounds about right, George. Too bad it took half a fifth of Scotch to admit it...

[SlithyTove]

09:52 PM on 12/17/2008

Arianna's forebear Alcaeus of Mytilene said it first ("En oino aletheia"), before the Romans expropriated the phrase and rendered it "in vino veritas".

[totaldisbelief]

09:26 PM on 12/17/2008

If Tenet had a pair he'd start becoming real vocal about what he knows and who did what.
So far this guy is a worm.