PrintJune 15, 2009
Leon Panetta in the gutter
CIA head Leon Panetta, a former politician, has not strayed from his roots, despite his obligation to be above politics. The Associated Press reports that Panetta has told the New Yorker that Dick Cheney's criticism of Obama administration policies almost suggests "he's wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point."
Can you imagine George Tenet stating in 2001 that he thought that a Democratic critic of the Bush administration wanted Americans to die to prove a point?
This is proof that a political hack like Panetta shouldn't be running what is supposed to be a nonpolitical intelligence service like the CIA. Imagine the screams of outrage if Bush had appointed Karl Rove to head the CIA in 2001.
After all the phony charges that Bush had somehow intimidated intelligence professionals to doctor intelligence reports, Obama then appoints someone like Panetta.
