Goodbye Tenet

Central Intelligence Agency director, George J. Tenet, has resigned.

President Bush told members of the press that "I met with George last night in the White House. I had a good visit with him. He told me he was resigning for personal reasons."

The C.I.A. denies the resignation was connected with any job performance issues. "Absolutely not," said Mark Mansfield, C.I.A. spokesman. Tenet also addressed C.I.A. employees stressing that, "It was a personal decision, and had only one basis in fact: the well being of my wonderful family, nothing more and nothing less."

The New York Times also remarks,

Mr. Bush announced the resignation of the 51-year-old Mr. Tenet in a way that was almost bizarre. He had just addressed reporters and photographers in a fairly innocuous Rose Garden session with Australian Prime Minister John Howard. Then the session was adjourned, as Mr. Bush apparently prepared to depart for nearby Andrews Air Force Base and his flight to Europe, where he is to take part in ceremonies marking the 60th anniversary of the Normandy invasion and meet European leaders — some of whom have been sharply critical of the campaign in Iraq.

But minutes later, Mr. Bush reappeared on the sun-drenched White House lawn, stunning listeners with the news of Mr. Tenet's resignation, which the president said would be effective in mid-July.

Mr. Tenet and the C.I.A. have come under intense criticism since Sept. 11. Intelligence failure to "connect the dots" of what in retrospect seemed to be a cornucopia of clues that attacks on the United States were imminent, was further compounded by the serious misinformation gathered about Saddam Hussein's supposed possession of deadly chemical and biological weapons. These WMDs, which had been touted as a key rationale for the American-led war to topple the Baghdad dictator, have so far not been found.

Tenet will serve until 11 July - the seventh anniversary of his tenure in office, and then be temporarily replaced by C.I.A. Deputy Director John McLaughlin, Bush said.