Jan 09 2009
Obama Appoints Intelligence Officials
President-elect Barack Obama announced today his choices for director of national intelligence and CIA director. Obama chose Retired Navy Admiral Dennis Blair or national intelligence director and Leon Panetta, a former chief of staff to President Clinton, as CIA director.
“I am confident that Dennis Blair and Leon Panetta are the right leaders to advance the work of our intelligence community,” said Obama. “They are public servants with unquestioned integrity, broad experience, strong management skills, and the core pragmatism we need in dangerous times.”
If confirmed, Blair will oversee 16 intelligence agencies, including military intelligence and the CIA. He will report directly to the president, while Panetta will run the best-known intelligence agency in the world.
Obama has come under fire from members of his own party for not consulting with them before picking his appointments. In addition, there has been much criticism over the fact that the two are not intelligence insiders, however, most insiders were involved with the Bush Administration’s CIA actions of recent years. Transition team insiders have commented on the wise choice of choosing appointments that had nothing to do with Guantanamo Bay and “enhanced interrogation techniques.”
