I was pleased to see that Leon Panetta won the support of all 100 senators to be our new Secretary of Defense. He will be the first Democrat to serve in the position in 14 years. I am very happy to bring that streak to an end. It’s important that he starts off with unanimous support because he’s going to be presiding over some very controversial debates, including a drawdown of troops in Afghanistan, the transition in Iraq, and further budget cuts at the Pentagon.
In some ways, I’m sad to see him leave the CIA. He was the first decent person to head that agency since Stansfield Turner. And he kept the agency out of the news, stopped the torture and the infighting, and still managed to not cause any Republican resistance whatsoever to him taking on this new position. With a little more time at Langley, he might have been considered the best director the agency ever had. I feel a little less confident that David Petraeus will be able to keep the drama at bay. He’s our best general, but he also likes to talk too much. And I don’t think he sees eye-to-eye with the president on some issues, and may try to win policy disputes through backchannels to Congress and the press.
I never joined in the Betray-Us Chorus both because it was appallingly short-sighted anti-war politics and because I early on realized that he was our most competent commander. He was a real general, surrounded by hacks and morons. Some people criticize him for his self-promotion, but I think he’s earned his promotions and belongs on the top of the food chain.
One of the very few things Bush got right was putting his trust in Petraeus. I just don’t think he’s a great fit to be the Director of Central Intelligence.
But, hey, he’s been successful in pretty much everything else he’s tried, and I can’t hang Afghanistan around his neck. The president is the one that put him in charge of a hopeless endeavor, and he hasn’t made things worse.
As for Robert Gates, back when he was nominated by Bush I stuck my neck out to say that he was a good appointment and we shouldn’t oppose his nomination. I said that with full knowledge that he lied to Congress during the Iran-Contra affair. But he was the best we were going to get from Bush, and he did a really excellent job both in cleaning up after Rumsfeld and in loyally serving the country for Obama. He’s earned some respect.
Our national security establishment is still screwed up completely, but we’ve been in worse hands. In fact, we’ve almost always been in worse hands.