It Wasn't Me

The blame shifting game is in full swing once again. George Tenet, of CIA fame, is back on the scene with his own version of that popular kid's game. "Wasn't me" he will say, "it was him", and with so many in the family, it will be hard to tell who Mr. Tenet is shifting the blame to, exactly. As long as it's deflected, however, he comes out a winner.

HarperCollins is patiently waiting for Tenet to finish writing his tell-all memoir masterpiece, as the author has missed his initial deadline. The publisher wants to time the release so that they achieve maximum sales, and with Presidential candidates lining up to run, now is the time. Can't you type a little faster, George? The book must hit the shops just in time for an appearance on 60 Minutes, that cutting edge news show that is all the rage at the nursing homes.

Tina Andreadis of HC isn't talking about the book's content, but the word on the street is that Mr. Tenet is going to lay out his entire CIA career, and then cover his arse about Al Qaeda and 9/11 and Afghanistan, etc., etc. Chances are good that he won't trash George Bush, with whom he is said to have a good relationship. The long knives are out for Condie Rice and Dick Cheney, the people who threw Mr. Tenet under the bus when the time came to blame someone for faulty intelligence. There'll be a gripping narrative, Saddam Hussein, and a cast of other current events to fill the pages. The problem is, the book is going to come out a little late, considering.

There have been reams of paper used to publish books about the run-up to the war, countless pages that skewered the CIA and its director. Like any historical figure, Mr. Tenet would like to get his spin out there, to create his own personal history, but it may not jive with already published works. Even the 9/11 Commission is raising a collective eyebrow over some of Mr. Tenet's assertions, as they do not quite follow what he told them during their investigation.

The bottom line on all this is simple. Books, written words, live on into the future. What is written now will be used by researchers hundreds of years from now as they put together the history books. Hoping to be fondly recalled, George Tenet is putting out his story, but it will be filtered through time. Can't write history in the present, that's the problem. The history gets written long after the fact, and those who created the history don't get much input on how it finally gets told.