Special report: Tension escalates in Iraq

     WASHINGTON, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Former CIA Director George Tenet is using a new book and media appearances to accuse the White House of making him a scapegoat for the Iraq war, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.

    In an interview taped to air on CBS on Sunday, Tenet said U.S. President George W. Bush had made up his mind to invade Iraq long before the CIA director made his infamous Oval Office remark that it was a "slam-dunk" case that Saddam Hussein's government had weapons of mass destruction, according to the report.

    He was even more critical of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, saying the two have destroyed his reputation by repeatedly using the "slam-dunk" line to pin blame on him for the decision to go to war.

    "It's the most despicable thing that ever happened to me," Tenet said in the "60 Minutes" interview, according to a portion of the Interview transcript.

    Speaking about the December 2002 meeting in which he sought to assure Bush that the evidence against Iraq was solid, Tenet said: "I'll never believe that what happened that day informed the president's view or belief of the legitimacy or the timing of this war. Never."

    Tenet's comments represent a new and potentially politically damaging source of fire in a battle among Bush administration officials over blame for the Iraq war.

    The former CIA chief's entry is remarkable because he previously had been seen as excessively loyal to the White House.

    Tenet's book, titled "At the Center of the Storm," is scheduled for public release next Monday.

    A White House spokesman said that administration officials had not seen the book or Tenet's interview but defended the decision to invade Iraq.

    "The president decided to remove Saddam Hussein for a number of reasons, because of mainly the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq and Saddam's own actions," spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.