Leon Panetta warns against politicization of CIA (you're on notice, Nancy)

Politico ^ | 5-18-09 | Josh Gerstein

[STARWISE]

CIA Director Leon Panetta warned Monday against making his agency a pawn in the nation’s partisan political battles, even as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s claim that she was lied to by the CIA continues to reverberate in Washington.

“If they start to use these issues as political clubs to beat each other up with, that’s when we not only pay a price but this country pays a price,” Panetta said during a question-and-answer session following a lunchtime speech in Los Angeles.

“One of the things that I really want to do as director of the CIA is to improve the relationship with the Congress…I realize that we’ve been through a rough period.”

Rough may be an understatement. Last week, Pelosi accused the CIA of lying to her during a 2002 briefing about interrogation techniques.

On Friday, Panetta issued an unusual written statement to agency employees rebutting Pelosi’s claim, and Pelosi later backpedaled, saying it was the Bush administration that misled Congress.

Panetta didn’t explicitly discuss the flap with Pelosi in his remarks Monday to the Pacific Council on International Policy. However, in response to questions, he stressed his desire to keep Congress abreast of the CIA’s activities.

“The Intelligence Committee does have a responsibility to oversee our operations and what I intend to do is to make sure they are fully informed of what we’re doing,” he said.

Panetta said he wants to expand briefings to the full intelligence panels, not just their leaders. He also said he plans to be on Capitol Hill Tuesday morning for coffee with a group of lawmakers.

Panetta, a former California congressman and chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, said he would cooperate with any “truth commission” Congress might establish to inquire into Bush-era interrogation practices and related activities, but he suggested that another inquiry already underway in the Senate might be adequate to address such issues.

“I’m not going to tell the Congress or anybody else what they should or should not do with regards to this issue,” Panetta said. “I do believe that it’s important to learn the lessons of that period. I think that the study by the Intelligence Committee in the Senate will give us that opportunity.”

However, the CIA director again warned against making intelligence-related matters a political football.

“What I’m most concerned about is that this stuff doesn’t become the kind of political issue that everything else becomes in Washington, D.C., where it becomes so divisive that it begins to interfere with the ability of these intelligence agencies to do our primary job which is to focus on the threats that face us today,” he said.

Some observers said Panetta’s need to defend the agency last week was particularly acute because he has little background in intelligence matters and is regarded warily by some agency employees as a politician.

During the speech Monday, he was candid about his roots. “I’m a creature of the Congress,” he said at least twice.

During his West Coast appearance, Panetta also defended the CIA’s program to use unmanned Predator drones to attack Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan. He said civilian deaths blamed on such missions are more likely the fault of military operations in the region. He also said the drones have played a unique role in undermining the terrorist network.

“These operations have been very effective because they have been very precise in terms of targeting and it involved a minimum of collateral damage. Sometimes the criticism sweeps into other areas from either plane attacks or attacks from F-16s and others that go into these areas which do involve a tremendous amount of collateral damage,” the CIA director said.

“I can assure you that in terms of that particular area it is very precise and it is very limited in terms of collateral damage. Very frankly, it’s the only game in town in terms of confronting and trying to disrupt the Al Qaeda leadership.”

Panetta said his agency remains focused in large part on Iraq and North Korea. He boasted that his agency has made strides at gathering intelligence about the secretive regime in Pyongyang.

“North Korea is a tough target to penetrate for intelligence purposes but we’re making good progress,” Panetta said. “The fact is we had good notice about the fact they were going to deploy the Tapeodong missile and knew pretty well within an hour when that that was going to happen.”

[STARWISE]

CIA gave Pelosi a headsup before Panetta smackdown

Speaker Nancy Pelosi got a headsup from the CIA Friday just before Director Leon Panetta issued a staff-wide memo -- leaked to the press -- warning Pelosi to back off accusations that the CIA lied to Congress about interrogations.

The D.C. Examiner reported earlier this afternoon that the White House had told Pelosi about the Panetta memo, but a Democratic source says it was the CIA that actually alerted Pelosi that Panetta was about to make a statement.

In his memo, Panetta defended his agency: "Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and our values. As the Agency indicated previously in response to Congressional inquiries, our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing “the enhanced techniques that had been employed.”

But Panetta sort of left Pelosi an out, saying "ultimately, it is up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and reach its own conclusions about what happened."

Pelosi later softened her critique of the CIA, saying she was more upset with the Bush administration's tactics and had no problem with the hard working analysts at the spy agency.

[Paladin2]

Only the CIA is allowed to (secretly) politicize itself.

[Candor7]

The CIA was politicized by Clinton, and by the dems after Clintion. Plamegate was the bifggest boondoggle of lies anyone has seen, with over 3 million dollars spent on special cousel, all he got was a lying under oath charge against Scooter Libby. The CIA Lefties made a paly for Dick Cheney and missed.

Damn right the CIA is political, and thats why they are a lousey intelligence Agency that has to rely on the Mossad ( and thats about to end.).

And if they do not tow the lefty political line, some of them die early, and mysteriously.

[skinkinthegrass]

Leon Panetta warns against politicization of CIA

What a load of CR@P!
It started in 1977 (during Jimmah "Malaise" Carter only term)
IIRC, this B@st@rd was in Congress @ the Time.

"When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators." - P. J. O'Rourke
“The problem with socialism is that you eventually, run out of other people’s money.” - Margaret Thatcher
"There are two sets of rules. One set for the rulers and another for the rest of us." —Richard Yancey, former IRS tax collector

[spiderfern]

Yes, and my Senator Jon Kyl here in Arizona has given her a PASS—maybe her memory wasn’t correct—we need to move on was his response. Now you really think she’s gonna go anywhere with the repubs making excuses for her?

[hoosiermama]

Has Leon been given the assignment of removing Nancy from being third in line before Biden’s illness returns and BO’s BC comes to a head? Inquiring minds want to know! Better than any Soap Opera! ;~)

[yazoo]

“And if they do not tow the lefty political line, some of them die early, and mysteriously.”

Name one.

[delacoert]

Panetta said he wants to expand briefings to the full intelligence panels, not just their leaders.

Yeah, that'll work well. (Paneta Clue: LEEEEEEEEEEAKS)

[saganite]

The CIA has been politicized for years. Panetta’s warning is just to let Nancy know that politicians shouldn’t presume too much when they criticize the CIA.

Cause we got the dope on you, see!

[FDNYRHEROES]

To be polite...Nancy is a Liberal MORUNT!
There...I said it.

[jeffc]

With Panetta being a loyal Demo, methinks somehow that his “warning” against politicizing the CIA is probably more directed at Repubs who would use the CIA to try to bring down Nazi Pelosi.

[FlyingEagle]

It must be scary to have the CIA on your case, even if you are the speaker. She pissed off the wrong guys.

[STARWISE]

That’s kind of convoluted logic, since
she’s the one who launched the stunning
inflammatory attacks against them in the
interest of her partisan politics.

But, we shall see.

[wastedyears]

That picture of Pelosi will give me nightmares.

[M. Espinola]

Enjoying the Dem infighting show:

[SWAMPSNIPER]

Problem is they ALL have secrets they want to keep. It’s a big circular blackmail match.

[PhilDragoo]

[nikos1121]

Has anyone seen this guy Panetta. I think his appointment speaks mcuh about Obama’s opinion of the CIA.

This guy is a Mr. Magoo. OF all people to put in head of the CIA.

This guy is a joke. Is anyone taking him seriously?