I heard about P-E Obama’s latest nomination earlier today, but I still think that it has to be some kind of a joke. There is no way in the world that a serious-minded person could ever appoint Leon Panetta to run the CIA. Unfortunately, it’s no joke.
Here’s Panetta’s Wikipedia entry. Find me something there that even hints that he has real intelligence know-how. The closest thing I can find is that he was Bill clinton’s Chief of Staff, which means that he’s read some intelligence. Considering that Clinton so held the CIA in contempt that he refused to meet with James Woolsey, his first CIA Director and slashed the CIA’s resources drastically, it’s not particularly likely that Panetta’s going to hold it in much higher regard.
On the good side, he’ll have the CIA all over those pressing marine life issues. Oh, and he has plenty of experience testifying in front of Congress.
What troubles me, beyond Panetta’s stunning lack of experience, is that his most relevant qualification is as an experienced lawyer and bureaucrat. That means loads of legal restrictions could be coming down the pike for our intelligence agents, which also means that we’ll be treating Islamism like a law-enforcement matter. That didn’t go so well the last time we let the lawyers handle things.
But, hey. Who needs a competent and qualified CIA Director? It’s not like we need gobs of accurate foreign intelligence. What’s the worst that could happen?
Tags: CIA, Leon Panetta, President Barack Obama
