US CIA - Bush announces Tenet's resignation, departs for Italy
NAME: US CIA 030604N
TAPE: EF04/0581
IN_TIME: 10:42:27:06
DURATION: 00:01:40:10
SOURCES: Various
DATELINE: Washington DC/ Maryland/ Virginia, 3 June/ FILE
RESTRICTIONS: See Script
SHOTLIST:
APTN
Washington, DC - 3 June, 2004
1. US President George W Bush walks to microphone
2. SOUNDBITE: (English) George W. Bush, US President:
"Today George Tenet, Director of the C.I.A. (Central Intelligence Agency), submitted a letter of resignation. I met with George last night in the White House. I had a good visit with him. He told me he was resigning for personal reasons."
Pool
FILE - Washington, DC - March 24, 2003
3. Mid view as Tenet and deputy C-I-A director John McLaughlin swear an oath during testimony
4. Cutaway of members of 9/11 Commission
5. SOUNDBITE: (English) George Tenet, Director, Central Intelligence Agency:
"This administration was working hard before September 11th to devise a comprehensive framework to deal with al-Qaida, based on the best knowledge that we in the intelligence community could provide."
AP Photos - No Access Canada/Internet
Langley, Virginia - FILE
6. Still: Aerial view of C.I.A. headquarters
7. Still: Entrance to C.I.A. headquarters
White House photograph
Washington, DC - April 2001
8. Still: Bush, US vice president Dick Cheney, Tenet and chief of staff Andrew Card in the Oval Office
APTN
Washington, DC - 3 June, 2004
9. US national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, Powell and Card standing near where bush made Tenet announcement
Pool
Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland - 3 June 2004
10. Bush and US First Lady Laura Bush wave as they enter Air Force One
11. Various of Air Force One taking off
STORYLINE:
CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) Director George Tenet, buffeted by controversies over intelligence lapses about suspected weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and the September 11 terrorist attacks, has resigned.
US President George W. Bush said on Thursday that Tenet was leaving for personal reasons and added that he would be missed.
According to Bush, Tenet, 51, came to the White House to inform the president about his decision on Wednesday night.
Tenet will serve until mid-July.
Bush said that deputy, John McLaughlin, will temporarily lead America's premier spy agency until a successor is found.
Among possible successors is House Intelligence Committee Chairman Porter Goss, a former CIA agent and McLaughlin.
Bush made the announcement prior to boarding Air Force One destined for Europe.
Tenet had been under fire for months in connection with intelligence failures related to the US-led war against Iraq, specifically assertions the United States made about deposed President Saddam Hussein's purported possession of weapons of mass destruction, and with respect to the threat from the al-Qaida terrorist network.
In May, a panel investigating the September 11 attacks released statements harshly criticising the CIA for failing to fully appreciate the threat posed by al-Qaida before the terrorist hijackings.
Tenet told the panel the intelligence-gathering flaws exposed by the attacks will take five years to correct.
As director of the CIA, Tenet drew one particularly unusual assignment: trying to ease tensions between Israel and the Palestinians. Like virtually all special US mediators, his efforts had mixed results.
He was the first CIA director in 28 years to serve under two presidents and during his seven years at the CIA, speculation at times has swirled around whether Tenet would retire or be forced out.
Such speculation peaked after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001 and surged again after the flawed intelligence estimates about Iraq's fighting capability.
Even when his political capital appeared to be sinking, Tenet managed to hang on with what some say was a fierce loyalty to Bush and the CIA personnel.
A likable personality also helped keep him above water.
Conventional wisdom had been that Tenet, who was appointed by former US president Bill Clinton, did not plan to stay on next year, no matter who won the White House.
Tenet has been on the job since July 1997, an unusually lengthy tenure in a particularly taxing era for the intelligence community that he heads.