December 14th, 2004 was White House Happy Day. George Tenet wore the medal that made him look somehow like Dracula as the cameras flashed. A national hero was riding off into the sunset."Early in his tenure as [Director of Central Intelligence], George Tenet was one of the first to recognize and address the growing threat to America from radical terrorist networks," President Bush told the crowd of reporters and photographers. "Immediately after the attacks of September the 11th, George was ready with a plan to strike back at al Qaeda and to topple the Taliban. CIA officers were on the ground in Afghanistan within days. Seasoned American intelligence officers, armed with laptop computers, Afghan clothes and a visionary plan, rode horseback with the fighters of the Northern Alliance, identified key targets for our military and helped to free a nation." Bush said that Tenet had "brought justice to America's enemies and greater security to the American people" and that he was "a fine public servant and patriot."
They don't give those Presidential Medals of Freedom out to just anyone, you know. You've got to blow up the Death Star or something. Which makes a declassified report on September 11, 2001 a little embarrassing...
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