Article

2009-08-18 Home Front: WoT

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Spot 2009-08-18 09:17|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 Fiasco: a small bottle of Italian wine.

Posted by mojo 2009-08-18 10:06|| 2009-08-18 10:06|| Front Page Top

#2 He is an absolute disgrace as are all obama appointees.

Posted by newc">newc 2009-08-18 10:15|| 2009-08-18 10:15|| Front Page Top

#3 Let's see if he does the honorable thing and falls on his sword.

Posted by Richard of Oregon 2009-08-18 10:34|| 2009-08-18 10:34|| Front Page Top

#4 #3 Let's see if he does the honorable thing and falls on his sword.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon

he's a Democrat. Don't hold your breath

Posted by Frank G on the road">Frank G on the road 2009-08-18 10:36|| 2009-08-18 10:36|| Front Page Top

#5 Panetta is not the problem.

Oh, he's a political operative who doesn't know much at all about intel or how one gathers and uses intel, and he doesn't know much about covert operations, and he certainly isn't a man of principle who would stand up for his agency and his people.

But he's not the problem, and firing him doesn't solve anything.

CIA is broken and broken badly. It had a purpose at one time. It did that job, and part of its success is that we'll never know how it did its job. It has also missed lots of opportunities to advance our interests and has badly missed on important events in the world.

Like other government institutions that don't work, it was formed in a different time for a different purpose, and now exists mainly to ensure that it continues to exist. That in turn leads to current stupidities and political chicanery.

A courageous president and a Congress with insight and fortitude would ask a simple question: "what kind of intelligence agency do we need today?"

They would then scrap CIA, keep the parts that are still useful, and build a new intel agency. That's not going to happen, and that's why firing Panetta doesn't solve anything.

Posted by Steve White 2009-08-18 10:48|| 2009-08-18 10:48|| Front Page Top

#6 Waiting for a MSM outlet to pick this up.

Waiting.....waiting...... waiting......

Posted by Mullah Richard 2009-08-18 10:48|| 2009-08-18 10:48|| Front Page Top

#7 A courageous president and a Congress with insight and fortitude would ask a simple question: "what kind of intelligence agency do we need today?"
Just what we really need and don't have. Also, the same question needs to be adapted for our financial disaster: "What kind of regulatory practices do we need today?"
Instead, our whatever-he-is President and our Congress with whatever-qualities persist in doing more and more of what we don't need.

Posted by Anguper Hupomosing9418 2009-08-18 12:27|| 2009-08-18 12:27|| Front Page Top

#8 Like Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Director Panetta simply.... "misspoke."

Posted by Besoeker 2009-08-18 13:28|| 2009-08-18 13:28|| Front Page Top

#9 Importantly, the CIA's problems have the same origins as the problems that MI6 experienced, from "Honorable Schoolboys". MI6 recruited classmates from Cambridge, the CIA upper management from Yale, and because of their school associations, they ignored trespasses that turned out to be critical.

The Cambridge boys brought in several who were spies for the Russians, and the Elis (Yale) brought in individuals who were so personally ambitious, that they saw their jobs as mere stepping stones.

This problem is so widespread among Ivy League graduates, that they are sometimes referred to as "corporate cancer", each one acting like a metastasized cancer cell, loyal not to their employer, but to their classmates, and filled with ruthless ambition of self promotion at the expense of whoever hires them.

Taking over all the upper level management jobs at CIA, they then won't let anyone else in, and stop dead all efforts at reform or efficiency.

Posted by Anonymoose 2009-08-18 16:59|| 2009-08-18 16:59|| Front Page Top

#10 Ms. Sebelius, your insurance does not cover things said during pms/ menopausal outburst.

Posted by GirlThursday 2009-08-18 16:59|| 2009-08-18 16:59|| Front Page Top

#11 They would then scrap CIA, ~~keep the parts that are still useful,~~ and build a new intel agency

Fixed it for you. During the Cold War the CIA's primary mission was monitoring the Soviet Union and it's satellites. Despite spending billions the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union took them by surprise.

The CIA failed to warn us of the fall of the Shah in Iran, nuclear development in Pakistan, lack of WMD's in Iraq, and the 9/11 attacks. All told, a long expensive record of failure. About the only thing that the agency has excelled at is leaking information to the NY Times.

I don't expect Obama to do anything to 'fix' the CIA. I doubt that his administration is capable of that. But when a competent administration takes office, the CIA needs to be scrapped and restarted from square one.

Posted by DMFD 2009-08-18 17:01|| 2009-08-18 17:01|| Front Page Top

#12 "Spy Agency Fiasco"

You'll have to be a lot more specific than that....

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2009-08-18 19:56|| 2009-08-18 19:56|| Front Page Top

#13 The CIA seem to be doing a pretty good job in Pakistan... Lots of useful missile strikes there lately.

Posted by trailing wife">trailing wife 2009-08-18 22:25|| 2009-08-18 22:25|| Front Page Top

23:20 abu do you love
23:10 3dc
23:08 Gabby
23:04 abu do you love
23:00 Gabby
22:53 Barbara Skolaut
22:49 Pappy
22:43 Pappy
22:25 trailing wife
22:20 Rambler in Virginia
21:57 Skunky Glins 5***
21:50 trailing wife
21:49 trailing wife
21:25 3dc
21:13 James
20:50 JosephMendiola
20:48 JosephMendiola
20:47 Eric Jablow
20:28 Barbara Skolaut
19:59 Thing From Snowy Mountain
19:56 Barbara Skolaut
19:54 Barbara Skolaut
19:52 Barbara Skolaut
19:50 Procopius2k