Statement from John Kerry on CIA Director George Tenet’s Speech at Georgetown University

JohnKerry.com ^ | February 5, 2004 | John Kerry

[Shermy]

February 05, 2004

For Immediate Release

“Today, the CIA Director, George Tenet, admitted that the intelligence agencies never told the White House that Iraq posed an imminent threat. But that’s not what the Bush White House told the American people. They said Iraq posed a ‘mortal threat,’ an ‘urgent threat,’ an ‘immediate threat,’ a ‘serious threat,’ and, yes, an ‘imminent threat’ to the people of the United States.

“Today, we found out that George Bush, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld, and the rest of the Administration weren’t passing on sound facts on Iraq to the American people - they were playing politics with our national security.

“Americans should be able to trust that what the President tells them is true - especially when it comes to the life and death decisions of war and peace.

“We need to restore America’s credibility around the world and the trust of the American people in their government at home. That’s not going to happen with a sham commission hand-picked by George Bush to look into how these faulty facts on Iraq made it to the American people. It’s not going to happen while the Bush White House continues its stalling and stonewalling. What we need is for this President to take responsibility - to face the truth - and to finally tell the truth to the American people. And we need that now.”

[Shermy]

Ping.

[EternalVigilance]

Bye-bye, ketchup-boy.

[tet68]

John, you're not ready for the truth.

[gov_bean_ counter]

"Imminent threat"

Will anyone ever ask him to present the quote?

[ErnBatavia]

and, yes, an ‘imminent threat’ to the people of the United States.

Looks like he took the bait...assuming Bush never did say "imminent threat", I hope he gets hammered for it.

[nobody_knows]

“Americans should be able to trust that what the President tells them is true - especially when it comes to the life and death decisions of war and peace."

....amen....and AMEN brother Kerry.

That's EXACTLEY why you won't be elected.

[cripplecreek]

Watch how fast John MCcain goes from being the republican darling of the left, to just one more evil republican lying for the president.

Should prove interesting to see how the ketchup king attacks MCcain.

[ambrose]

2 + 2 = ? ("1984" reference)

Yes, repeat a lie long enough...

[Shermy]

We need to restore America’s credibility around the world

Translated, he means France.

He's going to han himself on the tricoleur, if the Bush people are smart enough to provoke Kerry to speak less in code. But I think they're to focused on doling out goodies to take notice...

[kevkrom]

Does anyone see the irony that the Kerry campaign, recently itself the target of false charges from the Clark campaign, would itself spread lies about the Bush record?

[not-alone]

His reply make about is as good as most on FOX today. They must have listened to different speech than I did. I think Tenet did a good job and I am not a Tenet fan. But as he said "If people are willing to listen" What is going on with FOX lately?

[eureka!]

John "effin" Liar. Amazing...

[Howlin]

He never said it.

[Howlin]

"Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option."

President Bush, State of the Union Speech, January 28, 2003

[Shermy]

Not to mention that we'd been bombing Iraq for 12 years...or that Kerry himself voted for the ILA which enacted as US law the policy of overthrowing Saddam.

[Diogenesis]

"Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent.
Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions,
politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is
permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words,
and all recriminations would come too late.
Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy,
and it is not an option."

--GWB SOTU January 28, 2003

---

"Oh no. Anymore dumb ideas, Ms. Clown?"

[section9]

Well, EV, I do think that the Kept Man has walked right into it. Wouldn't you agree?

I never thought Tenet had it in him. His speech was a spankfest today.

Be Seeing You,

Chris

[Akira]

Here's what Bush said in his SOTU on Jan 28, 2003:

"Some have said we must not act until the threat is imminent. Since when have terrorists and tyrants announced their intentions, politely putting us on notice before they strike? If this threat is permitted to fully and suddenly emerge, all actions, all words, and all recriminations would come too late. Trusting in the sanity and restraint of Saddam Hussein is not a strategy, and it is not an option."

[ErnBatavia]

He never said it.

And the media isn't going to clarify this little discrepancy either.