"Anybody with a brain realizes you can't trust the agency," said one Republican when I asked him about the appointment of Leon Panetta to run the CIA. So you take someone with a reputation as a competent manager and caretaker and install him there in the hopes that the agency does as little damage to you as possible. On the left, Obama supporters are quick to point to this item Panetta wrote in the Washington Monthly last year, at the height of the Democratic primary, condemning torture. Does it represent political posturing -- a sop to the left -- or Panetta's deeply held views on the issue? I'm guessing the latter, as Panetta's term as White House chief of staff coincided with the first serious use of extraordinary rendition by the Clinton administration. If Panetta was willing to allow the torture of terrorists before 9/11, why would he have changed his mind now?
Panetta will be competent, but the CIA will continue to be a thorn in the side of any president who tries to exert control over its enormous bureaucracy and covert programs. The question is whether he would prefer that the United States return to outsourcing the interrogation of the worst of the worst, or whether he would prefer that his own men do what needs to be done. Panetta has never been particularly partisan in his approach to foreign policy matters, having gained a reputation as a budget guy in the '90s. It's not clear why he would want this job, but for those who wish to imagine that this is a clean break with the Bush administrations effective post-9/11 policies, the history of the Clinton administration suggests that may well be wishful thinking.
Update: More reason to like Panetta is this response from Dianne Feinstein:
"I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA Director. I know nothing about this, other than what I've read," said Senator Feinstein, who will chair the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in the 111th Congress.
"My position has consistently been that I believe the Agency is best-served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time."
