The New Defense Team Confirmed and Understood by the Greatest (Dead) Expert…
JJA: “Yes. Lots of Marines, for some reason, migrate to Langley at a certain point.”
ML: “But they don’t run the bureaucracy in Langley, as I understand it. Some of them go nuts at the Agency because they want to do things and Langley keeps saying no.”
JJA: “Right. So there’s a potential for problems for both of the P’s. The Agency top honchos might want to reign him in, while down the road at the Pentagon, the top honchos might find the new guy overly cautious.”
ML: “After Gates???”
JJA: “Yes, Gates was fairly cautious, but they liked him personally and he seems to have developed real affection for the warriors. General Mattis, for example, who now commands CENTCOM, seems to have been one of Gates’s favorites, and Mattis is a legendarily tough guy.”
ML: “And what about Petraeus’ successor? That would be General Allen.”
JJA: “You know, he’s one of the most admired military men in America. He’ll have to be awfully good to keep some sort of momentum in Afghanistan.”
ML: “He seems to have gotten very lucky, if it’s true that Ryan Crocker is going to be the new ambassador in Kabul.”
JJA: “Lucky isn’t the word.”
I was starting to get static now…damn ouija board was smelling more like a failed omelet…
JJA: “…great diplomat, fantastic in Iraq…replaces a total dolt…Eichenberry…”
And he was gone. But he’d pretty much said it all, don’t you think?
As it happens, Petraeus has Ivy League credentials: a Ph.D. from Princeton.
Since the NSA does all the strategic imagery ane ELINT, and the Pentagon does the tactical stuff itself, my impression would be the only serious mission of the 21st century Company is convincing foreign nationals to betray their country (tribe, creed, gang allegiance pinky swear, whatever).
Surely Petraeus knows quite a bit about that from Iraq? Convincing Anbar Sunnis to rat out the IED-mongers among them to the USMC is a first-class turn, no? If he can manage the same trick at interesting levels in the Iranian government, Pakistani ISI, Chinese PLA, et cetera, that could be phenomenal.
My vague impression of the man is that his own satisfaction in a job well done that needed doing is his mainspring. Presidential politics doesn’t seem to attract that type, more’s the pity.
Convincing the CIA to support America would be an even better turn.
Bingo. People seem to forget how many Clintonistas stayed in important positions through the Bush years.
Failing to clean them out was one of GW’s greatest failures.
Maybe the move of putting General Petraeus at the CIA was designed to help save him from the embarrassment of being tied to a losing war? What if both the White House and Clinton both know the war is lost in Afghanistan and that Obama really is going to start pulling troops out this summer? So they both decided to put Petraeus at the CIA to stop him from resigning in protest. They probably knew they couldn’t make him Secretary of Defense, because the heads of the other branches of the military would think that Petraeus would be partial to the Army when those precious defense dollars were being handed out at budget time in Congress. And right now Obama certainly can’t afford infighting at the Pentagon. So the next best place for Petraeus was at the CIA, although I don’t know why the General didn’t hold out for being the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which I guess is the next logical move for a man like Petraeus. So I’m probably in the minority here, but I see this move as a bad thing. It could be the first sign that we are pulling out of Afghanistan, and soon.
There is nothing to stop Petraeus from quitting the CIA in protest. Also, a cut and run is a pretty hard thing to spin, especially if our troops have to fight their way out! Additionally, cutting on Afgan could set Iraq on fire once more! Nothing is ever easy!
Robert M Gates has already damaged DoD quite a bit; I suspect Leon Panetta is being sent to finish the job.
Gen Patraeus is precluded from being SECDEF – see 10 USC section 113: “A person may not be appointed as Secretary of Defense within 10 years after retiring from active duty as a commissioned officer of a regular component of an armed force.”
And Gen Mattis is far more political and far less “tough” in any military sense than the press and pundits (and apparently CIA ghosts) make him out to be.
“Robert M Gates has already damaged DoD quite a bit; I suspect Leon Panetta is being sent to finish the job.”
Agreed. Gates’ main problem was that he told the POTUS (whichever one) what he wanted to hear as SecDef. Under Obama, Panetta raised this to an art form at Langley, while simultaneously hammering the Company’s lower echelons for “political incorrectness” at an intensity not seen since Stansfield Turner.
Panetta will bring that same management style to Defense, plus his own long-standing dislike of the military, which he considers a handicap to “reasoned discourse” in international affairs. How one can have a “reasoned discourse” with nation-states whose entire foreign policy often consists of a placard saying “Death To (Your Name Here)” he has never been able to adequately explain. Not that he has ever tried.
Panetta will most likely view any defense situation as one to be “deconflicted by group tasking and transformational processes”, to borrow a phrase from John Ringo. Or in other words, he will engage in “crisis management” by trying to talk the crisis to death. We had another SecDef who firmly believed that was the way to go. Who also believed that soldiers should do police work, under the ROE of actual police officers. The trouble was, he wanted them to do it in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Yes, I’m talking about Les Aspin.
I expect Panetta will come up with one even more profoundly disastrous. After which, Obama will– guess what?
And if the two of them are this predictable to a peon’ like myself, I seriously doubt that our enemies haven’t already figured it out for themselves. Yes, a lot of crazy people do not like us; but crazy and stupid are not the same thing.
I’m still trying to determine exactly which one Panetta is. I’m certain I won’t like the conclusion, either way.
clear ether
eon
Libertyship46 writes “…I see this move as a bad thing.”
I do too, but maybe for different reasons. From what I can see, the CIA has been badly damaged by Political Correctness during the past several years, and I don’t expect that situation to improve any by putting Petraeus in charge. Remember how Petraeus, along with McChrystal, developed and enforced the PC Rules of Engagement which have severely hampered US troops. Also, Petraeus has strongly advocated fruitless nation-building projects.
And, of course there was the matter of Petraeus making craven remarks in response to Pastor Terry Jones’ burning of the Koran.
Petraeus has done some good things like implementing The Surge, but his political moves do not inspire any confidence in me.
Here’s the question about Petraeus in his new job:What does he understand about Islam?
I think it’s a simple case of keeping your friends close but your enemies closer. America loves her Generals, and Petraeus was on the verge of becoming legendary if he could have pulled out anything but an all out defeat in Af.
just sayin’
-burger
When the marxist moves his chess pieces, there is only one thing for certain…he isn’t moving them to make America stronger.
It doesn’t look like Petraeus is going to be a Republican’s veep, does it?
Will the Left now go into full-throated protest mode now that General “Betray Us” (remember that?) has been given another high-leval assignment? Will Cindy Sheehan be camping out on his front lawn? Will portly left-wing documentary filmmakers be demanding that he be investigated for overseeing atrocities against the people of the mid-east?
Probably not!
Portly? PORTLY???? Try OBESE! He’s gonna be put on a starvation diet when Obamacare hits Hollywood…
I think this is a mixed bag. Pretreaus to CIA will likely help in that the operators their will have a friend in court and the analytical folks might get some coaxing to see things in less of a rose coloured glasses view. Successful Combatant Commanders (he was COMCENTCOM) do not bully or badger people, they really do enlist people to accomplish their mission. No doubt, he will clearly state his expectations but I doubt they will be couched in terms that will automatically get folks dander up. I think he’s a consummate professional and will inspire confidence in all his employees that he will do his best to ensure they have the wherewithall to do their jobs. I think people will like him and work well for him. I think he’ll be a net plus there.
Panetta, on the otherhand, is obviously a consummate politician. He will be loyal to his boss’s desires. My recollection of his performance for Clinton is that he did a good job of balancing practical and political necessaties and coming up with something that worked. DoD is a behemoth that defies understanding for most people. I just hope he has the chops to deal with it. But, no doubt, he’ll keep his loyalty to his boss. For me, jury’s still out!
Something else to consider, both men have been in the trenches quite a while; Petreaus, far longer, but Panetta is much older. Undoubtedly, both are tired. Neither job is for the faint of heart. I hope that the President give both time for R&R.
The CIA and the DOD have long become politicized organizations throughout their ranks. The CIA is disfunctional and the DOD a costly mess since the ongoing reorganization of the Cohen/Clinton era. Unfortunately, there isn’t the political or national will to ‘demolish’ them and rebuild them according to their original constitutional and national security intent.
I’m afraid General Petraeus has forgotten how to stand on certain principles and say “no” to what is going to be a useless effort on his part in the CIA.
On the other hand, Panetta is nothing more than a progressive operative and opportunist….nothing more….nothing less!
Obama just removing those not friendly to him, and getting his people in place to support him when he places this country under martial law and imposes himself as a dictator.
I think Leon is going to the Pentagon to cut defense spending to free up dollars for domestic pork, like funding NASA Muslim outreach and redundant climate research agencies; the Roman general is getting put out to pasture to better implement a “decent interval” for “peace with honor” in Afghanistan, and to better lead from behind in Libya. It could be Trump in the White House in 2012, except he wont show his ’60s draft card; I bet he was 4f.
we must trace back leon’s roots
former director of the cia has some cachet but run-of-the-mill california lefty snaps us back to reality
im sure the dod will be engaging in heavy doses of sensitivity training, lots of duck duck goose, hybrid fighter jets, bean-bag combat rifles, new standards of not being allowed to kill enemy, etc…
I still think that Zero is afraid that Petraeus might challenge him for the next term and Petraeus is well enough known and admired by the public that he might be able to pull an Ike. As a result Zero puts him in the thankless job at CIA and puts an idiot like Panetta as SecDef to finish destroying the military. Kind of like the job he gave Hillary. He made her Sec of State and then every time there was anything the least bit tricky that could get her a rep for doing good things he sent his buddies to take care of that and sent Hillary (who in my opinion is a waste as Sec of State anyway) to do some interviews in middle and southern Africa. He wants to keep the people who could challenge him out of the way and also keep them from burnishing their reputation at his expense, something that is alarmingly easy to do.
General Petraeus is an American in the most beautiful sense of the word. His acceptance of the position of DCI will be viewed by many on the right as a sell out for personal ambition and glory. In my opinion that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Knowing the personal and political cost to his reputation, the General is sacrificing all of that for being a watcher, a gatekeeper for all that is best about these United States. In these days when our nation is being governed by those who value internationalism more than Americanism, it is imperative that we understand the General’s move in its correct context. I applaud his courage. Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Agreed, Petraeus was offered the job because Obama needed someone in the opening slot, it sidelines him into a job that may chew him up and at least is out of the spotlight, and it’s an appointment that no one will argue is incompetent–thus at the same time covering Panetta’s shift to DoD.
It’s an adroit move.
Petraeus, as a consumer of intelligence and deeply understanding the limitations of, er, kinetic action in countries we aren’t really at war with, has an interest in trying to make the CIA work well–which it hasn’t since the 1970s. It’s a hell of a challenge, which I also suspect appeals to him in that regard.
Watch, however, what support or lack thereof he gets in terms of cleaning house and acquiring new people (probably from other intelligence agencies and the military, since we’re talking TS clearance). If he’s left to twist in the CIA’s hostile culture without being permitted to change it, he may resign and go political even sooner than he could have otherwise. But, he’s out of action for 2012, at least, which is the short-term goal.
–JC
Good,Miguel,JJA never confused the rings on.
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