Leon Panetta

CIA Wins Epic Turf Battle With Intelligence Czar

newsweek.com | Mark Hosenball | Posted 11.12.2009 | Politics


The CIA has decisively won a long-running turf fight with the director of national intelligence, the CIA's ostensible boss, over who will be the top U...

Veterans, Clean Energy, and Common Sense

Rob Perks | Posted 11.11.2009 | Green


Rob Perks

There's a growing consensus that one of the best things we can do to enhance our national security is to get off fossil fuels and transition to clean, home-grown energy.

Nancy Pelosi Claim That CIA Lied Validated By House Intelligence Committee

The Hill | Jared Allen | Posted 10.27.2009 | Politics


Democrats on the Intelligence Committee have concluded that the CIA did not fully inform Congress about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques d...

This Week In Magazines: Obama The "Self-Entangling Giant"

James Warren | Posted 09.28.2009 | Media


James Warren

No matter how much he might disdain the W. presidency, especially when it came to misuse of executive branch power, Barack Obama may be a "self-entangling giant" who is going down the same perilous path.

CQ Columnist: Obama Should Ditch Intelligence Advisory Board

CQ Politics | Jeff Stein | Posted 09.21.2009 | Politics


Nine months into his administration, President Obama has yet to fill any of the 16 seats on the White House Intelligence Advisory Board -- as far as I...

Leon Panetta: Karzai Apparent Afghan Election Winner

VOA News | Gary Thomas | Posted 09.18.2009 | World


Official preliminary final totals in Afghanistan's recent presidential election have incumbent president Hamid Karzai the winner, but the election was...

Is Bagram Obama's New Secret Prison?

Andy Worthington | Posted 09.15.2009 | Politics


Andy Worthington

The Obama administration is following Bush's lead by unilaterally rewriting the Geneva Conventions, presumably to allow it to continue exploiting prisoners of war for their supposed intelligence value.

The Discreet Charms of CIA Morale

Frank Naif | Posted 11.14.2009 | Politics


Frank Naif

Before Eric Holder announced his preliminary probe, and even before Barack Obama promised an end to torture and detention, morale at CIA was sagging.

Leon Panetta's Job Is Secure Despite Losing High-Profile Battles Over CIA Missteps

AP | PAMELA HESS | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics


WASHINGTON — CIA Director Leon Panetta has been on the losing end of a string of high-profile battles over the agency's past missteps, stoking q...

CIA Wants DOJ To Investigate Assassinations Leak

Washington Independent | Spencer Ackerman | Posted 10.20.2009 | Politics


The CIA is none too happy about the recent disclosure of apparently inchoate "significant actions" canceled by Director Leon Panetta. After the activi...

Old CIA problems Dog New Interrogation Group

Frank Naif | Posted 10.19.2009 | Politics


Frank Naif

For all of the attention paid to CIA's morale, carving off a chunk of clandestine counterterrorism operations will become part of the hallway lore of a CIA doomed to be put upon by politicians.

Outsourcing Assassination: to China?

John Feffer | Posted 09.25.2009 | World


John Feffer

Look, if we're going to outsource, we should outsource to the experts. The Chinese. They make our computers. Why not give them the task of assassinating jihadists?

Panetta Threatened To Quit, Got In "Screaming Match" Over Torture Probe

The Huffington Post | Posted 09.24.2009 | Politics


CIA Director threatened to quit over an potential criminal investigation of CIA torture, ABC News reported Monday. A "profanity-laced screaming match...

CIA Director Panetta: Reform Suffers for Bush Apparatchiks and Spy Chiefs

Frank Naif | Posted 09.10.2009 | Politics


Frank Naif

Panetta's -- and Obama's -- instincts are correct when they promise to protect the CIA's rank and file from prosecution. But protecting the troops from prosecution is not the same as resisting accountability.

Did the CIA Assassinate? What We Need to Know

Michael Brenner | Posted 08.24.2009 | Politics


Michael Brenner

A serious examination of the CIA/assassination story should begin by sweeping aside the rubbish cluttering the electronic ether on this issue.

Panetta "Blindsided" By Probe Of Secret CIA Program

Newsweek | Posted 08.20.2009 | Politics


NEWSWEEK's disclosure that attorney General Eric Holder Jr. may appoint a prosecutor to investigate detainee abuse has revived tensions in the Obama a...

Torture, Wiretaps, Lies to Congress: Old Spy Cronies a Drag on Obama's "Look to the Future"

Frank Naif | Posted 08.16.2009 | Politics


Frank Naif

Over the past week, a triple-whammy of developing national security stories reminded Americans and the Obama administration that the past is a stubborn thing.

The Democrats' Selective Amnesia on Assassination: Clinton Did It and Obama Does It Too

Jeremy Scahill | Posted 08.15.2009 | Politics


Jeremy Scahill

The "secret" CIA assassination program that Dick Cheney allegedly concealed from Congress sounds a lot like the assassination policy implemented by President Bill Clinton.

Congress Demands Full Account of Intelligence Outsourcing Mess - and It's a Mess

Frank Naif | Posted 08.14.2009 | Politics


Frank Naif

The outsourcing of intelligence has impacted nearly every aspect of intelligence operations, and Congress wants to know how and why.

Obama's "Drip, Drip, Drip..." Intelligence Problem

Chris Weigant | Posted 08.13.2009 | Politics


Chris Weigant

Obama faces a steady drip, drip, drip of stories leaking and becoming public. Wiretapping stories, torture stories, and secret CIA covert stories were all in the news in the past week alone.

Obama's Weak Congress

Andrew Sargus Klein | Posted 08.13.2009 | Politics


Andrew Sargus Klein

I fear a Congress that, while not so much parasitic, is so fearful of being attached to any of Obama's failures that it misses every opportunity to be a part of his successes.

CIA Secret Program Was To Capture Or Kill Al Qaeda Operatives

Wall Street Journal | SIOBHAN GORMAN | Posted 08.12.2009 | Politics


A secret Central Intelligence Agency initiative terminated by Director Leon Panetta was an attempt to carry out a 2001 presidential authorization to c...

GOP Rep. Says He Would Support An Investigation Of Secret CIA Program

The Plumline | Posted 08.10.2009 | Politics


I'm a bit surprised this isn't getting more attention: Last night, A Republican member of Congress -- Rep Mac Thornberry -- said he would support an i...

Jason Linkins

Joe Scarborough, Pelosi Critic, Now Laments Unfair Criticism Of Pelosi

HuffingtonPost.com | Jason Linkins | Posted 08.10.2009 | Media


Scarborough's now lamenting that Nancy Pelosi, "a friend of mine from Congress" has "caught a lot of grief" for that criticism. The big takeaway? Starbucks apparently has a Rohypnol Frappuccino.

Secret CIA Program Was "Intelligence-Collection Activity"

The Huffington Post | Rachel Weiner | Posted 08.10.2009 | Politics


The Washington Post has more details on the secret program that CIA Director Leon Panetta revealed this week had been hidden from Congress since 2001....