UPDATE ON THE PLAME AFFAIR

Remember my predictions regarding the Valerie Plame affair, posted last October? Rumsfeld has refused to resign (so far), Tenet is out and Bush is looking for a lawyer.

CIA chief's departure may be prelude to bigger problems

...

"Then there was the news that President Bush has arranged for outside legal advice regarding a special prosecutor's investigation of leaks to columnist Robert Novak about the identity of an undercover CIA agent, Valerie Plame. Ms. Plame is the wife of former ambassador Joseph Wilson, who made known that administration claims of Saddam's efforts to get uranium for weapons in Niger were false.

So is Mr. Tenet being offered up as a scapegoat for the administration's mounting shortcomings regarding Iraq? People have called for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation for his handling of the war in Iraq. But President Bush stood by him. He only had words of praise for Mr. Tenet after his resignation.

The words of warmth by Mr. Tenet for the President and vice versa seemed genuine. President Bush told his Cabinet not to speculate that Mr. Tenet's reasons are anything other than ''personal.'' That's what Mr. Tenet said himself. It also sounds like someone decided a departure was necessary before things get worse."

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch, and it ain't over yet.

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