President BarackObama's appointment of Californian Leon Panetta to direct the CIA isyet another example of how the Golden State has become the nation's defacto go-to source for a new generation of the "best and brightest." Panetta's appointment to lead America's spook central is the kind of change this cloistered, embattled agency needs.
Panetta is not likely to stand for his agents missing, oh, littleevents like the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 9/11 attacks and thefailure to actually find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq amongother embarrassing screw-ups. A smart guy who represented Californiawith distinction in Congress and who served as President Bill Clinton'schief of staff, Panetta will demand and get accountability from hisofficers and analysts. And if the galactic mistakes continue to occur,heads will likely -- and appropriately -- roll in Langley. Isuspect that Panetta's most important contribution is that he willquickly break-up the male and Ivy League-dominated cabal that's largelybeen in charge of the agency since it was brought into being byPresident Harry Truman in 1947. This act alone will probably triple thequality and quantity of the intel we're getting. And before you gothinking that this is just another politicallly correct call fordiversity in hiring practices at a federal agency, it really isn't.
Think about it.
How effective do you think a bunch of Americans in suits who don't speak the language are going to do in downtown Tehran?
Thegreat thing about America being a nation of immigrants is that ourpopulation presents a rich, deep and culturally-diverse recruiting poolfor our intelligence agencies to draw from. We can hire and trainsmart, savvy patriots who actually look like and talk like the peoplewe're spying on. I know, crazy, huh?
Weall know that we live in an increasingly dangerous world. We live in aworld where fanatics plot to destroy us, our way of life and ourdemocracy with every breath they take.
Panetta, who is set to be confirmed by the Senate early next month,knows the best way to minimize any further American bloodshed is totake the fight to the enemy -- to defeat him or her on their homeshores, not ours. The only way to do that is to remake the CIA into thebest foreign intelligence service in the world.
Because of all of its recent gaffes, the CIA has become the whippingboy of commentators (like me) and late-night comedians alike and that'sa shame. Morale within the organization has to be at an all-time low.Panetta no doubt knows this and will go about quickly restoring prideto this important agency. I think it's fair to say that all Americans-- especially his fellow Californians -- wish him and the agency thebest of luck as they go forward.
Thequestion of how we might determine whether Panetta is successful willmostly be determined by the lack of anymore 9/11's or major droppedballs. In Panetta's soon-to-be secret world, success is quietlymeasured by what doesn't happen -- by what doesn't make the headlines,CNN or the network nightly news.
For all of our sakes, here's to the next four years being very quiet. Very quiet indeed.