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Obama picks Leon Panetta for CIA director
By Frank Davies
Mercury News Washington Bureau
Posted: 01/05/2009 11:55:18 AM PST
WASHINGTON — Leon Panetta, a Northern California political veteran who served 16 years in Congress and was President Clinton's budget director and chief of staff, is President-elect Barack Obama's surprise choice to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
While Panetta's experience and unquestioned integrity won him praise from some officials, skeptics questioned his lack of background in intelligence or counterterrorism. Most troubling for Panetta was the decidedly cool reaction of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who becomes chair of the Intelligence Committee this week and will conduct his confirmation hearing.
"My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time," the California Democrat said in a terse statement. She added that Obama and his team did not inform her of the choice before news leaked out Monday.
Choosing a new CIA director has been a difficult decision for Obama. An early favorite, John Brennan, withdrew his name from consideration after some Democrats criticized his role in devising interrogation and detention policies after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Obama and his team shied away from officials who were involved in Bush administration policies. Obama's choice for director of national intelligence, retired admiral Dennis Blair, recently headed the Institute for Defense Analyses, a government-sponsored national security think tank.
Panetta's lack of intelligence experience is not a problem, his backers say.
"He has an impeccable record in government and is known for his high integrity," said Gloria Duffy, president of the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, who worked on nuclear proliferation as a Pentagon official in the 1990s.
Panetta, 70, has a long career as a Bay Area congressman, and helped establish the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. As budget director under Clinton, he was credited with helping balance the federal budget. He also served as White House chief of staff for three years.
In recent years he was a member of the Iraq Study Group, which pressed President Bush unsuccessfully to negotiate with Syria and Iran and reduce the U.S. combat role in Iraq. Panetta said two years ago he was distressed by Iraqi leaders who were willing to use violence to achieve political goals.
He directs the Panetta Institute in Monterey and has been active in efforts to reform and restructure California's budget process, co-chairing California Forward, a bipartisan project.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Panetta criticized Bush for "using the politics of fear to trump the law" on torture and eavesdropping. The CIA has been embroiled in controversy for using aggressive interrogation techniques that go beyond the rules of the Army Field Manual followed by the military.
"Torture is illegal, immoral, dangerous and counterproductive," Panetta wrote in March 2008.
Obama's decision to tap Panetta won the praise of former colleagues, including ex-Rep. Norm Mineta, a former San Jose mayor, and Rep. Anna Eshoo of Palo Alto, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee.
"He's very smart and articulate, not ideological, and he's respected on both sides of the aisle in Congress," said Mineta, who first met him when Panetta was a law student at Santa Clara University.
Eshoo called Panetta a "brilliant choice" who will make sure, in the wake of Iraq intelligence failures, that Obama "gets the best intelligence possible."
Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, also lauded the choice of Panetta: "If the president-elect's priority at the CIA is to build a spirit of trust and accountability, he has picked the right person."
But one national security expert, Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, said he was "confused" by the choice, because Panetta has "a great background on domestic policy, but not intelligence."
"Put me down as a skeptic right now," O'Hanlon said.
Some analysts predict that CIA veterans will object to Panetta as an outsider, but Duffy, the former Pentagon official, said a new generation of CIA analysts and operatives, recruited since 2001, "may not be resistant to Panetta."
Panetta, who once considered running for governor of California, has been outspoken about the need for bipartisan leadership in a time of economic and global crisis.
"Democracy can be ugly, depressing and frustrating, but it is what determines our fate as a nation," he wrote recently for Politico's Web site. Resolving the nation's crises, he said, "will only happen when the leadership of the nation, both Republicans and Democrats, decide that governing is more important than winning."
By Frank Davies
Mercury News Washington Bureau
Posted: 01/05/2009 11:55:18 AM PST
WASHINGTON — Leon Panetta, a Northern California political veteran who served 16 years in Congress and was President Clinton's budget director and chief of staff, is President-elect Barack Obama's surprise choice to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
While Panetta's experience and unquestioned integrity won him praise from some officials, skeptics questioned his lack of background in intelligence or counterterrorism. Most troubling for Panetta was the decidedly cool reaction of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who becomes chair of the Intelligence Committee this week and will conduct his confirmation hearing.
"My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time," the California Democrat said in a terse statement. She added that Obama and his team did not inform her of the choice before news leaked out Monday.
Choosing a new CIA director has been a difficult decision for Obama. An early favorite, John Brennan, withdrew his name from consideration after some Democrats criticized his role in devising interrogation and detention policies after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Obama and his team shied away from officials who were involved in Bush administration policies. Obama's choice for director of national intelligence, retired admiral Dennis Blair, recently headed the Institute for Defense Analyses, a government-sponsored national security think tank.
Panetta's lack of intelligence experience is not a problem, his backers say.
"He has an impeccable record in government and is known for his high integrity," said Gloria Duffy, president of the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco, who worked on nuclear proliferation as a Pentagon official in the 1990s.
Panetta, 70, has a long career as a Bay Area congressman, and helped establish the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. As budget director under Clinton, he was credited with helping balance the federal budget. He also served as White House chief of staff for three years.
In recent years he was a member of the Iraq Study Group, which pressed President Bush unsuccessfully to negotiate with Syria and Iran and reduce the U.S. combat role in Iraq. Panetta said two years ago he was distressed by Iraqi leaders who were willing to use violence to achieve political goals.
He directs the Panetta Institute in Monterey and has been active in efforts to reform and restructure California's budget process, co-chairing California Forward, a bipartisan project.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Panetta criticized Bush for "using the politics of fear to trump the law" on torture and eavesdropping. The CIA has been embroiled in controversy for using aggressive interrogation techniques that go beyond the rules of the Army Field Manual followed by the military.
"Torture is illegal, immoral, dangerous and counterproductive," Panetta wrote in March 2008.
Obama's decision to tap Panetta won the praise of former colleagues, including ex-Rep. Norm Mineta, a former San Jose mayor, and Rep. Anna Eshoo of Palo Alto, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee.
"He's very smart and articulate, not ideological, and he's respected on both sides of the aisle in Congress," said Mineta, who first met him when Panetta was a law student at Santa Clara University.
Eshoo called Panetta a "brilliant choice" who will make sure, in the wake of Iraq intelligence failures, that Obama "gets the best intelligence possible."
Sen. Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat, also lauded the choice of Panetta: "If the president-elect's priority at the CIA is to build a spirit of trust and accountability, he has picked the right person."
But one national security expert, Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, said he was "confused" by the choice, because Panetta has "a great background on domestic policy, but not intelligence."
"Put me down as a skeptic right now," O'Hanlon said.
Some analysts predict that CIA veterans will object to Panetta as an outsider, but Duffy, the former Pentagon official, said a new generation of CIA analysts and operatives, recruited since 2001, "may not be resistant to Panetta."
Panetta, who once considered running for governor of California, has been outspoken about the need for bipartisan leadership in a time of economic and global crisis.
"Democracy can be ugly, depressing and frustrating, but it is what determines our fate as a nation," he wrote recently for Politico's Web site. Resolving the nation's crises, he said, "will only happen when the leadership of the nation, both Republicans and Democrats, decide that governing is more important than winning."
How long before we see Obama telling us that Brown really did do a heck of a job? Wasn't one of the reasons people voted for Obama to end the practice of appointing people to posts they clearly aren't even remotely qualified for? Are there any real chances of this idiotic appointment getting through? Doesn't Bill Clinton know anyone with real experience Obama could appoint?
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