"The use of 'slam dunk' by George Tenet was interesting.A lot of people knew that George Tenet, the former CIA director, said that finding WMD would be a 'slam dunk.' The build-up as to how he came to say that is even more intriguing, though. This all comes from Bob Woodward's book, Plan of Attack. George Tenet's deputy made a detailed presentation in the Oval Office with George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and chief of staff, Andrew Card. He convinced them that they could convince the American public that there were indeed WMD in Iraq and that they would find them. Apparently -- it's not entirely clear from the book -- the CIA wasn't trying to prove to Bush and company that there were WMDs, but that they could make a case to the American public that there were.
It was a marketing meeting.
It was totally a marketing meeting. And in fact, Bob Woodard says in his book, it was a 'flop marketing-wise.' It was detailed, it had satellite photos of trucks moving around, numbers, projections, little bits of conversation, but nothing that was very persuasive. And then George Bush himself, according to Woodward, said, 'Is this the best you've got? I don't think that this is something that Joe Public would understand.' And then George Tenet, who had been quiet up until that point, jumped up off the couch, made his arms and hands go into sort of a dunking-the-basketball gesture (he's a big basketball fan) and said 'Don't worry, it's a slam-dunk case.' Bush said, 'Are you sure about that?' And Tenet said, 'Definitely, it's a slam dunk.'
According to Woodward, Bush later told him that if it had just listened to the deputy's presentation, it wouldn't have sold anybody on the idea. But once George Tenet said that, they definitely felt better about it. And the people in that room, their mood shifted from doubt to confidence. In a way, George Tenet was speaking in terms that Joe President would understand. [laughing]"
Bush's critics should note that Bush asks Tenet twice, directly, about WMD, and he's told "slam dunk". Still, that just covers his ass, and doesn't make things right, but you can't blame George W! He asked twice!