Leon Panetta is moving from director of the CIA to Secretary of Defense and Gen. Petraeus is going to be DCIA.
I suppose that makes some sense in the World Inside the Capitol Beltway. Doesn't make much to me. I don't know what Panetta has managed to accomplish at the CIA, but the point that he hasn't been involved in any serious CIA screwups is probably worth a mention. Petraeus has a record that includes cleaning up other people's fuckups, which may mean something.
The more troubling thing for me is that the DCIA before and after Panetta will now have been military officers. My feeling is that this is an indication that the CIA is probably putting more of a emphasis on doing shit than learning about shit. I don't think that is necessarily a good thing.
Cat Pawtector!
4 hours ago
1 comment:
Well, the CIA came out of a military organization, the OSS, and still a lot of operatives come from the military. Yes, the geeks and nerds in the CIA are into analysis and are more cerebral.
The British Intelligence agencies have traditionally been run by spooks from the uniformed branch, too.
There's an historical precedent, and it kind of makes sense. Will this lead to adventurism? I would guess that would depend on the leadership coming from the Oval Office.
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