Monday, January 5, 2009 at 3:31 pm
Panetta to CIA
This smells a bit of desperation. Leon Panetta is a terrific guy, a fine public servant--one of those people who reek of sanity and good judgment--but he doesn't have much, if any, experience in spook world. The problem was trying to find a DCI with intelligence experience who wasn't tainted during the Bush Administration. The CIA had a mixed record during the past eight years--it was n't very good at penetrating Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network; it was mixed up in some very dirty stuff, like torture and rendition; but its analysts were reluctant participants in the Bush-Cheney Iraq war hysteria and, as a result of their honesty, eventually were subjected to a Cheney-led purge, officiated over by Porter Goss, the worst CIA director in recent memory.
Goss's successor, Michael Hayden, has done a good job restoring morale and efficacy in Langley. The CIA's predator attacks targeting Taliban leaders inside Pakistan has been a quietly effective program (with, I'm told, some tacit assistance from the Pakistanis, with whom Hayden has cultivated closer relations in recent months). He also was a driving force behind the national intelligence finding that Iran had suspended its nuclear bomb program. Unfortunately, Hayden is guilty by association: he was involved in intelligence work during the Bush administration. The NSA's data-mining program, now legal (but still controversial on the civil-liberties left), was his baby. He has opposed the prosecution of CIA operators who may have been involved in "enhanced" interrogations, even though the most serious of those techniques, like water-boarding were stopped long before Hayden arrived in Langley. But he would have been difficult to retain--if for no other reason than the proliferation of Republicans and former Generals on Obama's national security team.
And so, Panetta, who now faces a real challenge: he has to show himself more sensitive to the integrity of the intelligence-gathering process than Porter Goss was. Given the insidious nature of the terrorist threat, accurate intelligence is more important than ever--and the precise use of CIA's kinetic capabilities is one of the few tools, short of war, that the government has to deal with the people who mean to do us harm. There is a fine line between excess and success in the intelligence business, and Panetta will have to locate and walk it. It may be the most difficult bureaucratic job in the government. I hope he does well.
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Monday, January 5, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Desperation? Or just trying to find someone who believed fervently that torture was wrong? I'll choose the latter. In an op-ed published in March 2008, Panetta called torture "illegal, immoral, dangerous and counterproductive" and condemned President Bush for "using fear to trump the law." That works for me.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 3:38 pm
[...] Posted by michaelscherer | Comments (0) | Permalink | Trackbacks (0) | Email This As Joe notes below, multiple news outlets are reporting that Obama has found his next CIA director: Leon Panetta, who [...]
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Ditto what southernbealle said. Plus he's a first rate manager with vast experience at high levels in government who is one of those people who reek of sanity and good judgment.
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Like Joe, I hope he does well. Benen notes:
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What's more, while hiring from outside the agency seems a little odd, former CIA Director John Deutch told the New York Times that "two of the agency's most successful directors, John McCone and George H.W. Bush, had little or no intelligence experience when they took over at C.I.A."
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And Joe, a quick reminder. Take anything Hoekstra tells you "deep background" about this, and bury it in your compost pile.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 3:44 pm
Panetta is a superb manager, untainted by Cheney/Bush administration scandal with the highest-level security clearance.
A superb choice.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 3:49 pm
wvng: GHWB didn't have any overt intelligence experience, but there's considerable evidence that he had been covert CIA for many years, with Zapata Corporation as his Brewster Jennings & Associates.
Still, in this case, not having been CIA doesn't make Panetta any less of a suitable CIA director.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 3:59 pm
The NSA's data-mining program, now legal (but still controversial on the civil-liberties left)...
And still *unknown* in terms of the history and extent of the spying, right? We still haven't gotten the straight story about what was implemented at NSA. And James Bamford had some scary stories about what used to be a scrupulously careful agency.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Leon Panetta is a remarkable man with an amazing amount of political knowledge and skill. I've read his columns consistently in the Monterey Herald and seen his political forums at the Panetta Institute, where he's hosted fantastic conversations on nearly every subject in politics. Let me tell you, this guy knows his sh!t and he's a compassionate, thoughtful person as well. Originally I hoped he may be considered for VP, then I heard rumors about commerce secretary (which I guess now he could be reconsidered for)... So although I'm a bit surprised about CIA director, I have no doubt that he's qualified. I'm just elated that there's a possibility he will serve - he's a "dream team" administration member in my opinion.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Joe - a little explanation of the "desperation" charge? Doesn't sound desperate to me. How can it be desperate to name someone to the CIA who "reeks of sanity and good judgment." Sure you don't need a vacation?
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 4:11 pm
The NSA's data-mining program, now legal (but still controversial on the civil-liberties left) What JJ said. Plus, it gets a bit, a tad, a smidgen irritating that so many "serious" people feel it is unserious to worry about illegal search and seizure. The "civil liberties left" pretty much equals the DFH's who have proven to be right on most Bush era excesses and abuses that were ignored by serious folks.
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Nice to see a few of the serious taking constitutional abuses seriously: Fallout from the Great Panic of 2001 (Yep, that's another plug for Rick's new blog.)
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Using the term desperate says more about you Joe. Finding someone who is in synch with your core principals even if they are a non traditional choice takes vision. Desperation would be to settle for less so that you don't stray from the status who.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 4:25 pm
"Joe - a little explanation of the "desperation" charge? Doesn't sound desperate to me. How can it be desperate to name someone to the CIA who "reeks of sanity and good judgment." Sure you don't need a vacation?"
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He is still a Villager and they've all bought fully into the mainstream Village CW, which, especially on national security matters, is far to the right of normal people (no small feat). Think neocon light. Basically they've bought into right-wing propaganda and fear-mongering, leading to the delusion that there's something comparable between Democratic and Republican governance as long as the. Hence he feels the need to look at government spying on the public in direct violation of federal law and the Bill of Rights as merely "controversial on the civil-liberties left" and also credulously compares a partisan hack like Porter Goss with a serious public servant like Leon Panetta.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 4:26 pm
C'mon, Joe. Panetta has (or had) the highest security clearance, he was a successful chief of staff to a very sloppy president, he was a principal of the Iraq study group, & he was the chief ops guy for intelligence when he was in the Army. Besides that, he was director of the OMB, a Congressman for eons, and people like him. Leon Panetta is qualified to be ANYTHING.
The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 4:28 pm
...leading to the delusion that there's something comparable between Democratic and Republican governance as long as the Republican claims to believe the CW.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 4:31 pm
The CIA's predator attacks targeting Taliban leaders inside Pakistan has been a quietly effective program
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Sure, if by "effective" you mean it's alienating moderate Pakistanis who are dismayed by the civilian casualties.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Yeah, Rose, we're gonna continually have this quietly effective program in place for decades to come, rolling up the body count, while intensifying the recruiting of more targets for the program.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 5:10 pm
CNN reports that Diane Feinstein has her nose in a twist. Not been consulted. What gives? Anyway this is one of Joe's useless posts because he takes the Village position: we know the qualifications needed to be a CIA honcho. We need someone without credentials in fudging torture by using fancy words.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 5:42 pm
This obviously great man would have been best suited for an entity where his great personal attributes, such as his profound sense of compassion, could have been fully utilized. Not as the head of an ill reputed relic organization. Why does everyone think that this is such a good idea?
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 6:00 pm
[...] 3 Playstation - Panetta: A Surprise Choice for the CIA (Time Magazine) By fallout3playstation Panetta: A Surprise Choice for the CIA (Time Magazine) This smells a bit of desperation. Leon Panetta is a terrific guy, a fine public servant - one of [...]
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 6:49 pm
While I rarely agree with Joe Klein on anything, I agree on this one. This is the first Obama appointment that I seriously question (other than Hillary to State) and this is the first that gives me real pause. I fear the return to a CIA where the real fact gathering gives way to political correctness run amuck. I'm not advocating the Bush way and understand a need to get far far away from the policies of the last 8 years, but this is too much the other way. The spy game is a dirty business and it cannot be done well unless hands get dirty.
As Joe says, it is a fine line to walk in this job and I have grave concerns that Panetta is the man to walk it. The result could be catastrophic.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 6:52 pm
rudisomah: I see this as a superb nomination because Dianne Feinstein and Jay Rockefeller don't.
Best recommendation possible -- two of the worst Bush-enablers on the Democratic side of the Senate are ticked off.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 6:55 pm
"Anyway this is one of Joe's useless posts because he takes the Village position: we know the qualifications needed to be a CIA honcho. We need someone without credentials in fudging torture by using fancy words."
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Joe never tires of being punked by the "insiders" who have lied to us repeatedly (for our own good, of course) and who also done such a stellar job in intelligence and security so far. He just can't quit right-wingers like Pete Hoekstra, no matter how foolish they make him look.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 6:59 pm
"The spy game is a dirty business and it cannot be done well unless hands get dirty."
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I wouldn't worry too much about that. Bill Clinton and Leon Panetta started the secret rendition program. They know who we're dealing with and what to do with them. Just the worst of the worst mind you, not cab drivers for bounty, and very, very, quietly.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 7:28 pm
[...] SpyTalk’s Jeff Stein says Panetta "is likely to give Republicans fresh ammunition to reopen questions about the Clinton administration’s counterterrorism policies."Time’s Joe Klein goes even further, saying the pick "smells a bit of desperation." [...]
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Desperate times call for ...
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I hope this appointment shows that Obama is serious about cleaning up.
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JK, do you still believe we should suspend the 4th Amendment because the president told us to?
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 7:54 pm
[...] Joe notes below, multiple news outlets are reporting that Obama has found his next CIA director: Leon Panetta, who [...]
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 9:23 pm
[...] Joe Klein says the pick ’smells of desperation’, and an anonymous ex-spook probably says it best: “I find the choice of Leon Panetta to head the CIA a curious one,” one well-connected former spy tells Danger Room. “On the one hand, if you are looking to pick a nation’s top spook, it is generally a good idea to pick someone with more than a cursory exposure to the intelligence business. It is also more than a little annoying that we can’t seem to find a CIA chief that hasn’t spent all of their adult life playing politics.” [...]
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 9:23 pm
shepherdwong, Clinton and Panetta started the secret rendition program? That is news to me.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 9:25 pm
Joe says the CIA has a mixed record for the last 8 years. I would be inclined to think a dismal record for the last 50 years.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Mysterious things happen out of the CIA. Look back. GW "Big" Bush is CIA Director. Later. W "Little" Bush is president. The country is brought to its knees. Get my drift? Watch your back, be alert.
Monday, January 5, 2009 at 9:44 pm
shepherdwong, Wikipedia does mention that Clinton was involved in rendition, no mention of Panetta. Mention of Gore and others. As for "starting" rendition, appears that honor goes to Reagan. Again, please tell me about Panetta and rendition.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 12:33 am
Problem with the CIA is - they gather so much evidence that they can support pretty much any conclusion you want to get to. The run-up tp the Iraq invasion was not so much a CIA failure as much as the head of the CIA knowing what the President wanted to hear and telling him that. I am optimistic about Panetta simply because 1) I don't think he'll fit his views to suit Obama's agenda which is related to point 2) I don't think Obama is a guy who has an agenda, i.e. he views the world fairly objectively and isn't going to try to shoehorn events to fit his world view. I am sure the lefties are going to complain about Panetta, but in practical term he is a gut who is willling to describew the world as he sees it (based on the evidence available) and you cannot get much better than that.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 12:55 am
[...] Jump to Comments leon panetta is one of those dudes with whom ive always agreed. joe klein says his nomination smacks of desperation. to me it smacks of the usual obama metaphor: intelligence, [...]
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 at 1:56 am
[...] the other hand, Joe Klein comments here, saying this smells of [...]
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 3:54 pm
[...] Swampland - TIME.com » Blog Archive Panetta to CIA « This smells a bit of desperation. Leon Panetta is a terrific guy, a fine public servant–one of those people who reek of sanity and good judgment–but he doesn’t have much, if any, experience in spook world. var addthis_pub = "";Print this article ©2008 Adfero Group. All Rights Reserved. Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-2368616-2"); pageTracker._initData(); pageTracker._trackPageview(); [...]