I'm both stunned and amused. When Panetta was a congressman from California, one of his constituents was arch conspiracy theorist Mae Brussell, who, though liberal in her basic stance, held a cynical attitude toward just about every well-known politician, regardless of party. When asked to name an office-holder whom she admired, she replied "Leon Panetta."
He was one of the few people in politics whom she did not accuse of being in the pocket of the CIA. (At least, not to my knowledge.) And now he's going to run the shop!
“He will bring a wealth of knowledge of the government to the C.I.A. post and an outside perspective that I think might be helpful at this juncture in the C.I.A.’s history,” said Lee Hamilton, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and a co-chairman of the Iraq Study Group.Hamilton, whom I have long disliked, is the guy I thought would snag the post, if only because he is so compromised. But if Hamilton is compromised, then his praise of Panetta means...well, I'm not sure what it means.
The selection of George H.W. Bush as DCI was the last time an administration chose an "outsider" to run the CIA. Everyone now acknowledges that Bush was not an outsider at all; he had a long and secret history with the agency.
And Panetta...?
6 comments:
Welp, Larry Johnson seems to be pretty happy with the choice of Panetta, and his reasons are interesting, to say the least. I'd post the link but as I recall, you're a mite touchy about that. ;-)
You can link to Johnson. I agree with him about the militarization of intelligence. This was, in fact, my argument against the choice of Hayden as DNI.
Okay, here it is:
http://www.noquarterusa.net/blog/2009/01/05/inspired-choices-for-dni-and-cia/
All the Clinton crowd now serve under Obama, not a Clinton...
What happens if they think he's going off the rails?Do they quit?Do they stay and "whore" themselves? Do they get fired if Obama begins to feel arrogant a al Bush and decides he knows best??
Time will tell....
"Panetta’s management skills can’t be questioned. As White House chief of staff, he held one of the toughest management jobs around. But the man has no background whatsoever in intelligence.
Why?"
Adfero Group (beltway types)
http://tinyurl.com/95otyc
Why? Because he hasn't drunk the Cool Aid that's why. Peter Dale Scott's excellent, "The Road to 911," examines long term momentum for bureaucratic initiatives that really have no outside constituencies. There are plenty of those and they have to be stopped. Panetta is also "the smartest guy in the room" or knows how to handle the smartest guy. Compare this appointment to Tenet and Freeh. It's an excellent move.
Penetta, Chu, and the "lune whisperer" Richardson are the only bright lights in the cabinet for me. Oops, somebody got Richardson. But who?
Interesting development. The one guy who can work with the worst is tossed overboard.
Wondering if Leon is "in the know" on all that really bad stuff that took place down there in Poway, as all those folks under indictment will be coming to trial soon? The cocaine importation agency lives on.
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