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US President George W. Bush on Thursday announced the resignation of CIA director George Tenet, who has been under growing criticism over intelligence failure before Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war in Iraq.
"I met with George last night in the White House...He told me he was resigning for personal reasons. I told him I'm sorry he's leaving," Bush told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before going to board Marine One to Andrews Air Force Base for a trip to Europe.
"He's been a strong and able leader at the agency. and I will miss him," Bush said, adding that Tenet will stay on his post until mid-July, at which time the CIA deputy director John McLaughlin will serve as the acting director.
Speaking to CIA employees at the spy agency's headquarters at Langley, Virginia, Tenet called his resignation "the most difficult decision" he has ever made.
Tenet, who has been on the job since July 1997, has been under fire after Congressional investigations found a series of intelligence missteps before the Sept. 11 attacks and intelligence failure over the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
The Bush administration has used the alleged existence of prohibited weapons in Iraq as the major justification for launching the war in 2003. Failure to find any such weapons has eroded domestic support for the war and led to decline of Bush's approval ratings.
Former chief US weapons inspector in Iraq David Kay told the Congress in early February that US intelligence was "almost all wrong" about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
In April, the panel investigating the Sept.11 attacks criticized the intelligence community and faulted Tenet for not having a management strategy to battle terrorism before the terrorist attacks.
Although his resignation has been expected by some in Washington, Tenet insisted that his decision has nothing to do with politics.
"It was a personal decision, and had only one basis -- in fact, the well-being of my wonderful family -- nothing more and nothing less," he said in his remarks to employees.
Tenet again defended his agency's "magnificent work" in the battle against terrorism and other crimes, but admitted that the record is "not without flaws."
"The world of intelligence is a uniquely human endeavor, and as in all human endeavors we all understand the need to always do better," he said.
Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, who is among those calling for Tenet's resignation, released a statement saying the Bush administration has to take responsibility for the "significant intelligence failures."
"This is an opportunity for the president to lead," the statement said. "We must reshape our intelligence community for the 21st century and create a new position of director of national intelligence with real control of all intelligence personnel and budgets."
Former CIA Director Stansfield Turner said the timing of Tenet's resignation cast doubt on the explanation that it was a personal decision.
"I think he's being pushed out or made a scapegoat," Turner told CNN. "I don't think he would have pulled the plug on President Bush in an election cycle without having been told to do that."
Born in 1953, Tenet received a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1976 and a master's from Columbia University School of International Affairs in 1978. He became deputy director of Central Intelligence Agency in July 1995 and was nominated by former president Bill Clinton as CIA director in 1997.
Bush accepts resignation of CIA chief
US President George W. Bush said Thursday CIA director George Tenet has resigned "for personal reasons."
"He told me he was resigning for personal reasons," Bush told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House before going to board Marine One to Andrews Air Force Base for a trip to Europe.
"He's been a strong and able leader at the agency. And I will miss him," Bush said, adding that Tenet will stay on his post until mid-July, when a successor is expected to be found.
Tenet has been under increasing pressure to resign after pre-war intelligence on alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq has proved wrong.
(Xinhua News Agency June 4, 2004)
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