Torture is the flashiest way to frame Barack Obama's selection of Leon Panetta to helm the CIA, but that's the starting point for analysis. It's been a given, ever since Obama decided not to select John Brennan, that the next CIA director would oppose the specific "enhanced interrogation methods" and that he would represent a philosophical break with the Bush Administration. Torture is out.
From this outsider's perspective, it seems like one of the Agency's biggest challenges right now is human resources management -- and Panetta's background suggests he's a capable manager. (That's why Bill Clinton brought him to the White House.)
A generational bubble is rising within the CIA. The cutbacks in hiring case officers -- human intelligence collectors -- during the
The bulk of CIA personnel are either really young, having been attracted to the agency after 9/11, or quite old, having joined during the Cold War. There's little continuity at CIA right now, and given the bent of Congress to re-examine the foundational principles of the war on terror, a consensus-driven, middle of the road CIA director might fit the political moment.
What confronts Panetta immediately:
(A) The building. Panetta is an outsider, like the dreaded John Deutch. Does he make an effort to learn the lore, the lingo and the culture? Does he remain aloof? Does Obama appoint a strong deputy with IC experience in order to bridge the perception gap?
(B) Upcoming legal battles over retroactive immunity for CIA officers involved in the Bush Administration's Bad Stuff. Will Panetta fight on their behalf? The CIA will argue, quite strenuously, that prosection of case officers would be disastrous for morale and would convince managers to err on the side of extreme caution, always.
(C) How to integrate CIA and DoD human intelligence collectors and their respective operations. The current regime -- CIA director Michael Hayden and SecDef Robert Gates -- have made progress here, but acute problems remain.
(D) Collection. Some elements of the special NSA collection program set up by, well, David Addington and Hayden remain in place. Are they dismantled? Legally modified?
(E) The bureaucracy. Why does the Director of National Intelligence have such a large staff? What do they do? How do they enhance or detract from the analytical project?
(F) Secrecy. Panetta's spoken out against excessive government classification and information restrictions. But momentum will be against him.
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