Mr. Obama has partially undone the ill-will I sent his way as a result of some of his previous nominations with his most recent nod to Leon Panetta to head the CIA. At the risk of being redundant, I encourage you to click the link to read his biography if you aren't already familiar with his background. I will dedicate this post to specifying why he is ideal for this job.1) Mr. Panetta is an outsider. This may go both ways (experience vs. fresh ways), but Mr. Panetta is a skilled administrator. Although he may be an outsider to the intelligence community, he is certainly not a neophyte in the realm of national security and intelligence. Being the White House Chief of Staff for three years placed him in the Situation Room more often than the President. He was privy to all the briefings and military meetings the President was. Mr. Panneta is only an outsider with regard to the politics of Langley, not insight. Plus, the most successful CIA administrators in history have tended to be those picked from outside the intelligence community.
2) Mr. Panetta was one of ten investigators who served on the 9/11 Commission. This means that the CIA will actually begin to implement some of the Commission's superb recommendations.
3) Mr. Panetta is staunchly opposed to torture. Not only is this a victory for human rights but also for the American face abroad and our ability to attain intelligence. Unsurprisingly, no good intelligence comes from abusive practices (or so says Lt. Gen. John Kimmons in a 2006 hearing, among others military experts).
4) Mr. Panetta is intelligent, and intelligence people should be in charge of intelligence, right?
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