An ex top intelligence official – a high profile and respected figure in the intell world – just sourmouthed about why cause P4 is a terrible choice for spymaster:
"...The decision was made, by the White House with no serious input from the Director of National Intelligence, who oversees the CIA. “This decision was developed and made in the White House.”
"...Leaving the DNI – which has responsibility over the CIA and other intelligence agencies – out of the process is “corrosive of the whole DNI concept.”
"...This source insists Petraeus would not have been the choice of the DNI. “I don’t know of anybody in my former world [the intelligence community] who thinks this is a good idea.”
"...Petraeus is not known as a team player – which a good CIA director needs to be.
"...The appointment looks like a consolation prize – given to Petraeus because he wasn’t going to be nominated to be Joint Chiefs chairman.
"...One of the most important questions the CIA will be looking at in the coming year is, “How is it going in Pakistan?” Petraeus will essentially be giving himself a grade.
"...The best directors arrive with a certain sense of humility….” Again, not a Petraeus trait.
"...Petraeus is a brilliant policy guy, but not an analyst.
Maybe. Maybe not:
"...P4 already has a deep understanding of what he perceives to be the agency's weaknesses and strengths, as a commander who has drawn on CIA information to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a military man who values discipline and honesty, he has a reputation of holding people accountable who serve under his command.
"...Beyond demanding more accountability, Petraeus is expected to push the highly secretive and turf-conscious CIA to mount more operations and better share information with other parts of the intelligence community.
"...MI officials who have worked in Afghanistan have complained that the CIA keeps to itself information gleaned from its sources, forcing the military to create duplicate human intelligence networks both to track militants and protect its own bases. Petraeus will look to fix this problem and beef up the CIA's human intelligence operations, pushing officers to look beyond al-Qaida
Drones Gone wild Bay Bee!
"...CIA has often been run by uniformed military officers — Panetta’s predecessor, Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, most recently. But as much as Petraeus has worked with the CIA and the secretive, lethal Joint Special Operations Command in Iraq and Afghanistan, that’s the limit of his time in the shadows.
"...But he’s got three major credentials for taking over the CIA. First, his reputation. “The agency will thinks it’s cool and be happy for the top cover,” Carafano, a retired Army officer, says. The rep is also an asset for repairing damaged or stalled intelligence relationships in the Arab world during the current political tumult.
"...Second, although he’s seen as the king of counterinsurgency, Petraeus spent the past nine months in Afghanistan emphasizing its harder, insurgent-killing edges, increasing special operations raids, drone flights and air strikes. That fits in with the rise of the CIA’s drone strikes and its shadow wars — Obama’s model for how to conduct the fight against al-Qaida without a huge troop commitment. The top counterinsurgent has effectively auditioned to become the top counterterrorist.
"...Petraeus’ third credential is operational. He’s got an excellent relationship with the Pakistanis, positioning him well to salvage an acrimonious relationship that’s crucial for the drone war. “Pakistan has put a lot of short sticks into a lot of hornets nets” Petraeus said last February, a typical response to journalistic or legislative skepticism of Pakistani counterterrorism efforts.
"...In short, get ready for lots more drone strikes. Panetta is certainly an advocate. With Petraeus’ ties to the military and to its elite commando units, the military-CIA collaboration on drone strikes and counterterrorism raids is likely to accelerate.
Pic - "Further strain relations between the CIA and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI) and, possibly exacerbate the awkward personal chemistry between Petraeus and top Pakistani officials."
3 comments:
"although he’s seen as the king of counterinsurgency, Petraeus spent the past nine months in Afghanistan emphasizing its harder, insurgent-killing edges"
Its pretty astounding that this guy won (in-so-far-as-we-won) things for us in Iraq, he stomped all over the taliban in Afghanistan, he was in charge of operations for that region when bin Laden was killed, and now he's going to be put in charge of the behind-the-scenes war on al Qaeda.
His resume is a history of this war.
Considering all the changes in command we've seen over the course of 'the long war' (remember when people used to call it that, and here we are 10 years later scared to call it that, like a decade is a long time or something?), I guess when you pick a winner of a general, you stick with him.
This is an amazing site you have here, kid. Just stumbled over from The Best Defense. I'm digging it
http://ricks.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/05/09/courtney_me_109_on_the_meaning_of_bin_ladens_death_for_her_peer_group
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