Dennis Blair – Panetta To Central Intelligence Agency
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President-elect Barack Obama’s decision to fill the nation’s top intelligence jobs with two men short on direct experience in intelligence gathering surprised the spy community and signaled the Democrat’s intention for a clean break from Bush administration policies. Former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, a longtime congressional veteran and administrative expert, is being tapped to head the CIA. Retired Adm. Dennis Blair is Obama’s choice to be director of national intelligence, a selection expected for weeks, according to two Democrats who spoke on condition of anonymity because Obama has not officially announced the choices. Isn’t that what they always say when they’re snitching? The long delay in selecting new CIA and national intelligence directors is a reflection of the complicated demands of the jobs and Obama’s own policies and priorities. Besides, who needs it? The search for Obama’s new CIA chief had been stalled since November, when John Brennan, Obama’s transition intelligence adviser, abruptly withdrew his name from consideration. Brennan said his potential nomination had sparked outrage among civil rights and human rights groups, who argued that he had not been outspoken enough in his condemnation of President George W. Bush’s policies. Despite an internal list of former and current CIA officials who had impressive administrative credentials, all either worked in intelligence during the Bush administration’s development of controversial policies on interrogation and torture or earlier, during the months leading up to the Sept. 11 terror attacks. A former senior CIA official who advises Obama defended the choice of Panetta, who has NO direct intelligence experience beyond a two-year stint in the mid-1960s as a U.S. Army lieutenant. It’s gotta make Bubba proud!
By: Ernie Fitzpatrick
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/panetta-to-central-intelligence-agency-711286.html
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