A TALE OF TWO SORDID WASHINGTONIANS

Famed Washington Times reporter Bill Gertz revealed yesterday (8/22) that a secret CIA inspector general report found its former director George Tenet a dismal failure.

For three years the report's findings were kept secret, that Tenet "did not discharge (his) responsibilities in a satisfactory manner" in the months leading up to Al Qaeda's attack on America on September 11, 2001.  It is a devastating deconstruction of Tenet's CIA.

Now is the time to revisit the revolting legacy of this Clinton appointee, who schmoozed his way into George W's confidence by naming the CIA headquarters in McLean, Virgina after his father.  Bush the Elder was a caretaker DCI for little over one year, November 1975 to January 1977, of no consequence. 

The stupidest mistake of Bush's first term was to retain this incredibly shallow and incompetent Clinton holdover as Director of Central Intelligence.

So I suggest one of the quickest and easiest ways to understand what happened at Tenet's CIA is to read Tenet Down, Powell To Go, the inside story of how and why Bush finally fired Tenet on June 3, 2004.

It's a sordid story of petty bureaucratic infighting taking precedence over America's national security.  But the reality is, that one sentence is a summary of how most foreign policy is conducted in Washington.  It's that Tenet is such a penultimate example.

At least there's some justice in his getting a measure of comeuppance with the Inspector General's now-revealed report.

Now for the second tale.

Last Saturday (8.18), a once enormously influential man in Washington died.  He was eulogized in every important newspaper from the New York Times to the Wall St. Journal to the Washington Times.  Let me tell you a completely unknown story about him.

Before his presidency, Ronald Reagan lived for many years in California.  On a regular basis, he had his hair cut at his favorite barbershop in Beverly Hills.  After his election and before he moved to Washington, a friend of mine was assigned to his transition team.  Thus he accompanied Mr. Reagan to his barbershop appointment.

My friend was startled to see an elderly man who just happened to be getting a haircut in the very next chair to which Mr. Reagan was seated.  The elderly man immediately began chatting up Mr. Reagan.  My friend was startled because the man was a Communist, the son of the founder of the Communist Party USA, one of America's richest and most powerful men who had made his fortune doing business with the Soviet Union since the days of Lenin.

His name was Armand Hammer.

My friend looked upon Armand Hammer with suspicious disgust but held his tongue.  He was just a lowly transition guy.  A fortnight later, it was time for another Reagan haircut – and sure enough, there in the barbershop chair next to Mr. Reagan's was Armand Hammer.

Now my friend was seriously alarmed.  The president-elect's personal schedule and whereabouts was a highly-kept secret.  For someone in league with the Soviets to know it meant that someone – Armand Hammer – had a mole within Mr. Reagan's team on his payroll. 

For clearly, Hammer had paid his mole handsomely – and the barbershop owner – to secure a haircut chat with the next President of the United States.

My friend spoke quietly to the owner, informing him that obviously he had been bribed by Hammer and warned him he was guilty of a serious and jailable breach of national security.

My friend went on to be a senior advisor to President Reagan throughout both terms of his presidency.  He made every effort to prevent Armand Hammer from meeting Mr. Reagan again.  Yet ever so often, someone – he could never figure out who – arranged it.

My friend knew that someone in the president's inner circle was in the pay of Armand Hammer.  It was only some years after the Reagan Presidency that he finally, through diligent intelligence contacts, learned the identity of Hammer's Mole.

It was the lionized fellow who died last Saturday – Michael Deaver.

I've known this for a long time now but am revealing it now.  Deaver was part of the "Gang of Three" in Reagan's Inner Circle – the other two being James Baker and Dick Darman – who together formed the great obstacle for those of us trying to implement the Reagan Doctrine and get rid of the Soviet Union.

An enormous amount of energy was expended by the Reaganauts in the White House making end runs around the Gang of Three to get the president's approval on policies that would weaken the Soviets.  All of us regarded Deaver as nothing more than somebody in the way.

Now we know why he was.  He was Nancy's friend, never Mr. Reagan's.  She insisted on him being in power, her husband acquiesced.  Now he's gone, and a tale of another sordid Washingtonian can be told.