44

thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com - 1/5/2009

Panetta to Be Named C.I.A. Director

— thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com — Leon Panetta has a reputation in Washington as a competent manager with strong background in budget issues, but has little hands-on intelligence experience. (more) Panetta to Be Named C.I.A. Director

World

Barack Obama

Leon Panetta

Comments vote downundo vote up Politics Daily found this 1/5/2009found this

25

washingtonmonthly.com - 1/5/2009

No Torture. No Exceptions. - Leon E. Panetta

— washingtonmonthly.com — A ccording to the latest polls, two-thirds of the American public believes that torturing suspected terrorists to gain important information is justified in some circumstances. How did we transform from champions of human dignity and individual rights ... (more) No Torture. No Exceptions. - Leon E. Panetta

Comments vote downundo vote up Taylor Marsh found this 1/5/2009found this

22

latimes.com - 1/6/2009

Leon Panetta is Obama's pick for CIA director - Los Angeles Times

— latimes.com — Reporting from Washington -- President-elect Barack Obama has selected Leon E. Panetta, a former California congressman with little experience on intelligence matters, to serve as the next director of the CIA, according to Democratic officials ... (more) Leon Panetta is Obama's pick for CIA director - Los ...

White House

Barack Obama

Washington, D.C

Leon Panetta

CIA

Comments vote downundo vote up Talking Points Memo found this 1/6/2009found this

Leave a Comment

Panetta on Torture
Swampland — ... On cue, Marc Ambinder finds the clip, which answers the most immediate question. What are Panetta's views on torture? This is what Panetta ...

Obama names Clinton crony who’s never worked in intelligence to head CIA
Hot Air » Top Picks — ... interrogation program after the Sept. 11 attacks. Members of Mr. Obama’s transition also raised concerns about other candidates, even some Democratic lawmakers with intelligence experience. Representative Jane Harman of California, formerly the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, had hoped to get the job, but she was ruled out as a candidate in part because of her early support for some Bush administration programs like the domestic eavesdropping program. Here’s his chief qualification for the job, as near as I can tell. Whether this means Obama’s ready to ...

Pondering Panetta
The Opinionator — ... that “Mr. Panetta has a reputation in Washington as a competent manager with strong background in budget issues, but has little hands-on intelligence experience.” Well, given the reputation of the C.I.A. these days, are we sure that’s a drawback? The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder digs up this passage Panetta wrote in the Washington Monthly last year: We have preached these values to the world. We have made clear that there are certain lines Americans will not cross because we respect the dignity of every human being. That pledge was written into the oath of office given to ...

Obama Picks Ever Solid Centrist Panetta To Head CIA
The Moderate Voice — ... 11 attacks by leadership changes and morale problems. Given his background, Mr. Panetta is a somewhat unusual choice to lead the C.I.A., an agency that has been unwelcoming to previous directors perceived as outsiders, such as Stansfield M. Turner and John M. Deutch. But his selection points up the difficulty Mr. Obama had in finding a C.I.A. director with no connection to controversial counterterrorism programs of the Bush era. Indeed, Panetta is on the record as being strongly against the use of torture.` MSNBC reported it this way: ...

Obama Picks Top Spies
Truthdig: Drilling Beneath the Headlines — ... The president-elect has reportedly chosen Leon Panetta to head the CIA and retired Adm. Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence. Both men bring a mixed bag. Panetta is an experienced bureaucrat, but he’s no James Bond. Blair has been praised for his terrorist-fighting skills, but he was criticized for a supposed conflict of interest that benefited defense contractors. Related: Mark Ambinder dug up Panetta’s thoughts on torture, and AP has the background on Blair. ...

Panetta To CIA
JustOneMinute — ... , who said she was not briefed on his selection and learned about it from news accounts."I was not informed about the selection of Leon Panetta to be the CIA director," Feinstein, who in her new post will oversee his confirmation hearings, said in a statement. "My position has consistently been that I believe the agency is best served by having an intelligence professional in charge at this time."Marc Ambinder reprised Panetta's essay opposing torture, which seems to be his key qualification. And here are some links to the ...

Shots from the Show 1/6
Tammy Bruce — **This post will be updated throughout the show** Panetta On Torture Judicial Watch Obtains Documents Re: Blagojevich Contacts with Obama and Transition Team Funds Tie Obama to Richardson Probe Figure CNN quietly scrubs Palin’s name from article How weird. Today’s global sea ice levels equal to 1979. Texas jail closes after recliners found in cells Universal healthcare and the waistline police Madoff Sons Told Prosecutors of Jewelry, ...