“ My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time. ”
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and the new chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
If she has the courage to come out and question Obama’s choice, Leon Panetta,
I don’t see why others aren’t joining her. When I heard about the appointment, I couldn’t understand what I was hearing.
Panetta’s experience and specialty come in the field of budgetary management, and have nothing to do with the secret world of intelligence. At 70 years of age, I certainly don’t think he has much time to “learn on the job,” and if there is any agency where learning on the job is unacceptable, its the spy world where every second counts….
Blunders at the state department means aid to zimbabwe is delivered a week late. Blunders at the CIA means another 9/11. My critics would say “9/11 happened under bush who appointed Michael Hayden…” but since Michael Hayden took over the reigns at Langley, an era of accountability has begun…. With the exit of Bush and Dick, the torture days are over via an Obama administration. Hayden, a career soldier and intel expert make him more than fit for the job, but I’m not even sure if keeping Hayden was on the table.
It’s not even about the lack of choices Obama had. It’s about Panett’as lack of intel experience. Panetta did not serve on the House Intelligence Committee during his 16 years in Congress, and has not been in government since he departed from the Clinton camp in 2000- It is now a different world. That doesn’t begin to explain the problems novices have when entering the CIA,where rank and time served means the world. Outsiders are rarely greeted kindly, as detailed in Legacy of Ashes.
From Foreign Policy.com, an anonomous source who is a retired CIA member said,
“The message is, ‘I don’t want to hear anything out of the CIA. Make it go away. No scandals. Keep it quiet,’” the former officer told me. “They put over there a guy who is a political loyalist, who will keep everything nice and quiet, but who won’t know a good piece of intelligence from a shitty piece of intelligence, and wouldn’t know a good intelligence officer from a bad one.”
I like Obama, but I don’t like this pick. I can only hope this doesn’t end up puting America in danger. I can only hope.
