George Tenet:
National Scapegoat Or Hero?

A Queens native took center stage last week in a national scandal that could rock the Bush administration.

CIA Director George Tenet, a Cardozo High School graduate, stepped forward and offered himself up as a sacrificial lamb to the White House and Congress, accepting blame and ultimate responsibility for the President’s false allegations in the State of the Union address concerning Iraq’s nuclear weapons program.

Tenet explained that Bush should not have been allowed to repeat a British report claiming that Iraq was attempting to purchase uranium from the African nation of Niger when CIA sources could not corroborate it.

George Tenet from Queens to the national stage.

“This was a mistake,” said Tenet, after the President and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice blamed the CIA and called for someone to be held accountable.

Tenet is not expected to resign and the President has expressed full confidence in his administration’s highest-ranking holdover from the Clinton years.

In a written statement, Tenet said, “Officials who were reviewing the draft remarks on uranium raised several concerns about the fragmentary nature of the intelligence with National Security Council colleagues. Some of the language was changed. From what we know now, agency officials in the end concurred that the text in the speech was factually correct that the British government report said that Iraq sought uranium from Africa.’’

Tenet concluded that, ‘‘this did not rise to the level of certainty which should be required for presidential speeches, and the CIA should have ensured that it was removed.’’

Apparently the CIA had reason to believe that the conclusion was based on documents — some of which were forged — and other questionable data.

Although clearly Tenet and his agency had the lead in the matter, published reports indicate that both the State Department and the Vice President’s office had the same information which cast doubt on the President’s State of the Union allegation.

However, the son of the Greek immigrant former owners of the Scobee Diner has offered himself as the sole scapegoat in the matter. The Little Neck-raised twin- brother of the head of cardiovascular medicine at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens was the first CIA director in 28 years to remain in office after the White House switched occupants. And Bush’s faith in Tenet has paid off. It seems that the President (and his administration) may be forgiven for a false statement before Congress and the American people.

Our country was led to war based largely on the Iraq Weapons of Mass Destruction theory. A key element of that theory’s presentation apparently was flim-flam that members of the Bush administration had reason to question.

As we sit today, still unable to find Saddam’s alleged secret weapons, George Bush has found his: George Tenet.

It appears that a nation who made a President pay a hefty price for lying about sexual misconduct which impacted only immediate family will accept the mea culpa of a guy from Queens and forgive a Presidential misstatement that impacted our country going to war and the continued loss of American lives.

Tenet, who learned some of his ethics while working at the Scobee Diner, may have parlayed his Queens heritage into a move of national import.

He seems to have provided the President with an easy way out of a potential national scandal.

George Tenet shall be known for this moment.

We just wonder was it a moment of grace?

Internet Cafes: Scourge Of Society?

By MICHAEL SCHENKLER

Our friend John Liu has been championing a piece of City Council legislation that would make it illegal for the owner of an internet café to allow a minor — someone under 18 who does not have a high school degree — to enter his place of business during school hours.

Intro. No. 467 amends Chapter 4 of Title 20 of the administrative code of New York City by adding: “It shall be unlawful for any internet café to permit a minor to enter such café during the hours of instruction of the public school district in which the café is located.”

An internet café is defined as a privately owned and managed facility in which computers are rented or made available to the public for the primary purpose of connecting with the internet but shall not include any public library or school computer facility.

Clear and simple, Councilman Liu wants to protect the high school students (perhaps some younger) from cutting school to surf the web or play games. And he has imposed a hefty penalty of $150 to $300 dollars for each occurrence on owners of internet cafes that don’t help keep the kids in school.

And this bill could conceivably pass the Council.

I’m all for keeping the kids in school.

But whose job is it?

Does the school get fined if a kid walks out?

Do parents get fined if kids stay home?

Can a high school kid cut school and go to a movie? To Shea for a Met game? Bowling?

Do we fine the movie theater, Mets, or the bowling alley?

Can they play pool? Are they allowed in libraries? McDonald’s? Can they take cabs and trains?

Do we fine cab drivers? The MTA? Restaurant owners?

It seems that according to our friend Councilman Liu, it is the sole responsibility of internet café owners to serve as the New York City truant officers of the new millennium.

It’s another attack on the poor NYC small business owner.

Sadly, we think it’s also just a case of a City Councilmember with a myopic view of the picture. It seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to constituent complaints about where the kids of Liu’s Flushing district seek refuge from school.

 The sociological needs of the children of our City cannot and should not be the responsibility of small business owners.

Certainly we should not selectively penalize one segment of the business community while others are allowed to reap financial benefits from truants.

The fact is the home, the school and the community at large must unite to insure consistent quality education for all.

Councilman Liu knows we can find a lot of answers on the internet.

As far as the answer to how to keep kids in school, I’d look a lot closer to home.

A Ward Of The City

By HENRY STERN

Today’s newspapers tell a story of incredible depravity.  The life of severely disabled Stephanie Ramos, eight years old, shows unbearable suffering, cruelty and neglect. It ended with a painful and lingering death, allegedly caused by the greed of a foster “mother,” who concluded her care for Stephanie by throwing her body into a trash can.

Our concern is also with the systemic failure in child welfare that allowed this tragedy to occur.  How could inspectors have overlooked the miserable conditions in the foster home?  Queens prosecutors are said to be investigating the payments — said to be about $100,000 a year — that were made by the City and State for the care of three children in this foster home in Springfield Gardens.

There was extensive coverage of this horror story.  I don’t know if you can bear to read every horrible detail of this tragedy, but you should read enough to understand fully what is known, up to now, about Stephanie’s short life, sad death, and the abuse of her lifeless body.

Over the next weeks and months, follow-up on this matter will be most important.  We pay private and public agencies to be responsible for the welfare of these children.  Is New York another New Jersey, where the murder of a young child led to the complete overhaul of the child protection system and the dismissal of officials held accountable for the tragedy?  Where will the buck stop with regard to the death of Stephanie Ramos?

Reformers are traditionally concerned with important issues of a white-collar nature — campaign financing, voting requirements, legislative procedures.  So are we.  But we feel even more concerned and aroused at the slow, painful death of a child who was a ward of the state, handed over to the care of a woman who was pathetically unable or unwilling to maintain a decent home, but quite able to receive repeated approvals from the officials whose responsibility it was to make certain the child was cared for.

The New York City Agency for Children’s Services (ACS) released the following statement last week: “A preliminary review of our records on this foster home shows no prior history of abuse or neglect, and nothing that would raise any red flags about unsatisfactory living conditions in the home environment. We [ACS] will continue to work closely with the NYPD to investigate this case thoroughly and determine whether or not all appropriate casework practice was followed.”

Who will protect us from the protectors?

— NYC Parks Commissioner for fifteen years and a Councilmember for nine. He is founder and director of NYCivic, a good government group. He can be reached at: starquest@nycivic.org

Not4Publication.com by Dom Nunziato

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Michael Schenkler can be reached at: MSchenkler@queenspress.com