The disastrous twin failures of the president's men

Sunday, May 09, 2004 - Page updated at 12:00 A.M.
David S. Broder / Syndicated columnist

WASHINGTON — The heads of the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency have failed the president and the country.

CIA chief George Tenet assured President Bush that it would be a "slam dunk" to prove Saddam Hussein threatened us with weapons of mass destruction. The weapons weren't there.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld learned in January of credible allegations of abuse of detainees at an American military prison near Baghdad. When he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee Friday, Rumsfeld candidly admitted that he did not recognize the explosive potential of the scandal and did not alert either the president or Congress to its calamitous worldwide effects. His military partner, Gen. Richard Myers, asked CBS to delay putting the stomach-turning pictures on the air, but Rumsfeld remained inert.

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