Leon Panetta is President-elect Obama's pick for CIA DirectorObama's Intel Picks Short On Direct Experience -- Yahoo News/AP
WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama's selection of an old White House hand to head the CIA shows a preference for a strong manager over an intelligence expert.
Obama's decision to name Leon Panetta to lead the premier U.S. intelligence agency surprised the spy community and signaled the Democrat's intention for a clean break from Bush administration policies.
Panetta is a retired eight-term congressman, former Clinton White House chief of staff, and former head of the Office Management and Budget. There isn't a hint of direct intelligence collection or analysis experience on his long resume. Instead, he's only been what Washington calls a consumer of intelligence.
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This Nov. 27, 2001 file photo shows retired admiral and former commander of the U.S. Pacific Command Dennis Blair speaking during a news conference in Jakarta, Indonesia. President-elect Barack Obama's decision to fill the nation's top intelligence jobs with two men short on direct experience in intelligence gathering surprised the spy community and signaled the Democrat's intention for a clean break from Bush administration policies.(AP Photo/Dita Alangkara, file)
More News On President Obama's Intelligence Picks
Obama picks former Clinton aide Panetta for CIA -- Yahoo News/Reuters
Obama picks Leon Panetta as CIA head -- Yahoo News/AFP
Panetta Chosen As CIA Director -- Washington Post
Panetta a surprise pick to run the CIA -- L.A. Times
Panetta Is Chosen as C.I.A. Chief, in a Surprise Step -- New York Times
Democrats cool to Panetta at CIA -- Washington Times
Choice of Panetta to head CIA puzzles experts -- San Francisco Chronicle
New intelligence director may lead smaller agency -- AP
Obama's new intelligence czar -- The Australian
A Smarter Intelligence Policy -- Council On Foreign Relations
The Wrong Choice -- In From The Cold (commentary)
Leon Panetta for CIA? -- Pajamas media (commentary)