Whew. That was close. For a second I thought Turner might have supported Hayden.

Can anyone name a worse CIA chief than Turner? I can't even imagine a close second.

I didn't bother to listen to his blather. Does he still support closing up shop at the CIA and ending all human intelligence? He nearly accomplished both during his tenure.

Not really relevant. Wouldn't the NSA program be classified as SIGINT anyway?

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I think it's kind of relevant. The whole point of bringing Turner's criticism up is that he has some kind of insight and credibility on matters intelligence. And he doesn't.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Try Art, I know you can do it if you try!!!

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

Bwuahahahahahahaha!!

OMFG, that is SOOOOO bloody touche'.

Sorry, AJ, but that is just brilliant.

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank

I don't know. Maybe. Clever comeback though. I think he has tried to rebuild the CIA that Turner helped destroy, but it is awfully hard to tell from the outside looking in. I grant the results with the daily leaks we see today indicate a lack of success.

How come you didn't post the picture of Clinton's appointing him too?

Jesus Wept Art, George Tenet presided over perhaps the two biggest intelligence blunders in our nation's history, 9/11 and attacking the wrong country in retaliation. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here because Tenet is SOOOOOOO far ahead of the pack when it comes to worst CIA Director of all time he is easy to overlook.

Yes, Clinton appointed him which was an error of judgement on his part (see...I can criticize politicians I admire, I recognize they all have human frailties unlike many of the Bush apologists on this forum) but the difference between Bush and Clinton is that Clinton would have fired Tenet after 9/11 and had he still been around for the Iraq debacle Clinton would have had him commited to a mental institution not awarded him the Medal of Freedom.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

I don't really see that 9/11 was an intelligence failure so much. The FBI had a bead on the project, but our lawyers stopped them. The same might be true of the Able Danger data mining program, but we never seem to get to the bottom of that. Our lawyers also stopped Clinton from apprehending bin Laden from Sudan on as many as three occasions.

The CIA has always been clueless during my lifetime about major turning points in closed societies. From the evaluation of the Soviet Union military and economy, to the fall of the country, to being shocked by the advanced state of nuclear programs in Libya and 1991 Iraq, to being clueless about North Korea and Iran today.

Turner gutted human intelligence. From what I can tell, it has never recovered and the culture at the agency is not permitting any recovery.

Tenet seems to have tried to change that. It is not obvious he had any success though, so maybe he belongs on the list. I just don't know.

I gave you the benefit of the doubt, now I'm taking it back.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

Hey, I gave you a maybe on adding him to the list along with a qualification that I really didn't know.

That is more of a courtesy than you typically give me.

I'm always courteous to you Art....except for that thing this morning.

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"A society is defined not only by what it creates, but by what it refuses to destroy."
John Sawhill

Fair enough.