Central Intelligence Agency

John Brennan has been a valuable asset to the Obama team and will continue to be a loyal servant in his new role. He will provide valuable insight into Bush's intelligence policy formulation, such as it was.

The CIA's spokesman came down out of his tree to let us know the CIA is not happy that everyone thinks it's an agency that could use some fixing by the likes of Leon Panetta.

I conducted a poll about what spies thought of the Panetta choice. The results: "Obama was wise" to choose someone out of the torture loop to run the CIA. But there's a problem.

Cleaning out our stable of intelligence officials is a Herculean task. We are lucky to have men like Dennis Blair and Leon Panetta willing to sacrifice for the good of the nation.

This Saturday the Navy will commission the aircraft carrier CVN-77, to be named the USS George H.W. Bush. They seem in a hurry to burnish the reputation of the elder Bush while his son is still in office.

Leon Panetta is a patriot, a veteran, and a consensus builder, and he will lead the CIA forthrightly and in full respect for the law and the Constitution. I frankly cannot think of a better choice.

Despite a nearly flawless transition period of astute, substantive and widely praised cabinet appointments, the Obama administration has unintentionally provoked its first controversy.

If the Obama administration is serious about fixing US intelligence, there is a compelling logic to putting Panetta in charge at CIA.

The next time you find yourself getting pissed off at Obama, say these words out loud,"George Bush."

To say Panetta is a Clinton retread is to ignore his actual background. He comes out of a tradition which is almost forgotten today, that of the liberal Republican.

Placing an inexperienced person like Leon Panetta at CIA for his clean hands and "managerial expertise" will cost lives on the day of the next domestic terrorist attack.

Having frozen Panetta out of the California governor's race in 1998 by not deciding whether to run until he had no chance of lining up financial backing, now would be a good time to stand aside and let him rise to the occasion.

Leon Panetta certainly understands intelligence. But, most importantly, he understands the importance of our intelligence apparatus operating on the moral, ethical, and legal high ground.

Obama comes into office with a clear election mandate, and the last thing he needs is the public view of a bunch of squabbling Democrats (see: Burris, Roland) doing the GOP's work for it.

CIA Director Michael Hayden is taking significant steps to soften critics of the CIA's overclassification and other obfuscations -- and perhaps even to rekindle America's confidence in the Agency.

Special for the Huffington Post By Eric Margolis October 15, 2008 Afghanistan is in a `downward spiral,' the Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of S...

It's one thing to use Chinese toys to bring our children's lead-paint intake up to FDA standards but should we really subject our precious national torture resources to Chinese influence?