News from two-thirds of the former Axis of Evil raises questions about whether US intelligence services are doing their jobs. How much do they really know about what's going on in Iran and North Korea?
The meaning of election results from Tehran and insight into Kim Jong-il's successor are as opaque as they would have been in a world without air travel, computers, satellites and huge budgets for undercover agents.
As they defend themselves over torturing prisoners who may or may not have known anything worth knowing, how skilled can our spy services be if what we find out about the new dictator of a nuclear-armed North Korea comes from a photo of him at age 11 and the 2003 memoirs of a sushi chef who met him when he was 7?
In a New Yorker interview, the new CIA director Leon Panetta stresses the need for the agency to increase its foreign-language skills and recruit officers of more diverse backgrounds who can infiltrate hostile parts of the world, but he seems to be hamstrung by dealing with the fallout from the torture debate. How long will it take to clean that up and start concentrating on today's global threats?
The unrest in Iran is outwardly murky, but how much do our government insiders know about what's happening under the radar?
Vice-President Joe Biden says on Meet the Press that "there’s some real doubt” about the election result, but “the decision has been made to talk” about Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The White House may know more about whom we will be talking to and under what circumstances than they are telling us. But given the state of our spying after eight years of Bush-Cheney law-breaking and bungling, what are the odds?
Showing posts with label Leon Panetta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leon Panetta. Show all posts
Monday, June 15, 2009
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Panetta, the Bushes and Spying
If and when he is confirmed, Leon Panetta will be running the CIA from the Headquarters Compound in Langley, Virginia, the George H.W. Bush Center for Central Intelligence.
For those who have been fueling an uproar over the proposed new Director's lack of experience in the spook profession, the naming of the CIA's head office may offer some perspective.
In 1998, urging the House of Representatives to approve it, Rep. Porter Goss of Florida said, "Bush demonstrated leadership and trustworthiness at a time when both were desperately needed to help restore confidence in the Central Intelligence Agency and the other intelligence agencies that make up our intelligence community."
The bill was passed with bipartisan enthusiasm, naming the headquarters for a director who had served barely a year and had come to the position with no background in intelligence.
For those who are complaining about Panetta, the story gets worse. Goss, who had been recruited into the CIA in his junior year at Yale and labored in the clandestine services for a decade before being elected to Congress and serving on the House Intelligence Committee, was himself appointed CIA director in 2004 by Bush II and forced out two years later after a rocky tenure.
He left amid what the Los Angeles Times called "distracting battles over bureaucratic turf" and "sinking morale in the spy ranks," described as "another CIA director, his reputation battered, heading for the door with a long list of unfinished tasks."
Barack Obama is apparently hoping for another inexperienced Bush I to straighten out the agency rather than a veteran of the intelligence community to prolong its internecine wars. Congressional Democrats who object to that will have to make the case that his instincts are wrong.
For those who have been fueling an uproar over the proposed new Director's lack of experience in the spook profession, the naming of the CIA's head office may offer some perspective.
In 1998, urging the House of Representatives to approve it, Rep. Porter Goss of Florida said, "Bush demonstrated leadership and trustworthiness at a time when both were desperately needed to help restore confidence in the Central Intelligence Agency and the other intelligence agencies that make up our intelligence community."
The bill was passed with bipartisan enthusiasm, naming the headquarters for a director who had served barely a year and had come to the position with no background in intelligence.
For those who are complaining about Panetta, the story gets worse. Goss, who had been recruited into the CIA in his junior year at Yale and labored in the clandestine services for a decade before being elected to Congress and serving on the House Intelligence Committee, was himself appointed CIA director in 2004 by Bush II and forced out two years later after a rocky tenure.
He left amid what the Los Angeles Times called "distracting battles over bureaucratic turf" and "sinking morale in the spy ranks," described as "another CIA director, his reputation battered, heading for the door with a long list of unfinished tasks."
Barack Obama is apparently hoping for another inexperienced Bush I to straighten out the agency rather than a veteran of the intelligence community to prolong its internecine wars. Congressional Democrats who object to that will have to make the case that his instincts are wrong.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Transition and Tone
President-Elect Obama has little time to savor his historic victory and has to start addressing the challenges he stressed last night with a swift and sure transition from the paralyzed government now in place.
The names will be important, but decisiveness without delay would help lay to rest the doubts raised about his inexperience during the campaign and reassure an American public on the edge of panic about the economy.
Leon Panetta, the former White House chief of staff who has been advising his transition team, says, "You better damn well do the tough stuff up front, because if you think you can delay the tough decisions and tiptoe past the graveyard, you’re in for a lot of trouble. Make the decisions that involve pain and sacrifice up front.”
The rumors are that Obama will start by naming Rep. Rahm Emanuel, with experience in the Clinton White House as his chief of staff this week and will go on quickly to appoint future cabinet members.
In today's political climate, a new Treasury Secretary will be as critical as the choices for State and Defense, and whoever it is and the President-Elect will have to get involved in the financial crisis long before Obama raises his hand and takes the oath on January 20th.
The names will be important, but decisiveness without delay would help lay to rest the doubts raised about his inexperience during the campaign and reassure an American public on the edge of panic about the economy.
Leon Panetta, the former White House chief of staff who has been advising his transition team, says, "You better damn well do the tough stuff up front, because if you think you can delay the tough decisions and tiptoe past the graveyard, you’re in for a lot of trouble. Make the decisions that involve pain and sacrifice up front.”
The rumors are that Obama will start by naming Rep. Rahm Emanuel, with experience in the Clinton White House as his chief of staff this week and will go on quickly to appoint future cabinet members.
In today's political climate, a new Treasury Secretary will be as critical as the choices for State and Defense, and whoever it is and the President-Elect will have to get involved in the financial crisis long before Obama raises his hand and takes the oath on January 20th.
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