Washington - US president-elect Barack Obama named former
Clinton White House chief of staff Leon Panetta to head the CIA and
nominated a retired Navy admiral to oversee the entire espionage
community.
Dennis Blair, the chief of US Pacific Command from 1999 to 2002,
will become the director of national intelligence, a so-called czar
for coordinating the espionage activities and analyses of the
nation's 16 intelligence organizations.
In addition to the CIA, those include the Defence Intelligence
Agency and the super secret National Security Agency, as well as
outfits in the Army, Navy, Air Force, State Department and Federal
Bureau of Investigation.
The choice of Panetta, 70, has been questioned because he does not
have direct experience in the intelligence field, but also reflects
the difficulty of finding seasoned candidates untainted by President
George W Bush's harsh interrogation policies in the war on terrorism.
The CIA has been criticized for its use of waterboarding on a
handful of terrorist suspects and other allegations of torture.
'I was clear throughout this campaign and have been clear
throughout this transition that under my administration the United
States does not torture,' Obama said. 'We will abide by the Geneva
Conventions (and) we will uphold our highest values and ideals.'
'That is a clear charge that I have given to admiral Blair and to
Leon Panetta,' he said.
The selections fill out the most senior national security
positions for the Obama cabinet. The Senate must confirm both
nominees.
Obama, in December, named former rival Hillary Clinton as
secretary of state and said that he was keeping Defence Secretary
Robert Gates in the post. Former Marine General James Jones will
serve as his national security advisor.
Blair, 61, will be responsible for providing the president with
daily intelligence briefings, usually the first order of business
every morning, and ensuring Obama receives a broad array of
perspectives from the various agencies.
Some Democratic and Republican senators have criticized the choice
of Panetta for his lack of experience and for it being leaked to the
media before members of Congress were briefed. But it is widely
expected that Panetta's nomination will clear the Senate.
Panetta was a congressman from California from 1977 to 1993 before
becoming Bill Clinton's top aide in the White House in 1994 during a
shake-up of his senior staff. Panetta, a Washington insider, was
credited with bringing order to the White House after a tumultuous
first two years of the Clinton presidency.
Blair would become the third director of national intelligence, a
position created by Bush in 2004 based on the recommendations of a
commission investigating the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
The panel concluded that the espionage community failed to
communicate effectively throughout the various bureaucracies.
As head of Pacific Command, Blair was responsible for military
operations in the Asia-Pacific region.
Blair, a Rhodes Scholar who began his naval career in 1968, also
served as the Joint Chiefs of Staff and on the National Security
Council.
After leaving the Navy, Blair became president of the Institute
for Defense Analyses, the Pentagon think tank. He stepped down in
2006 after an internal Defence Department inquiry found he should
have recused himself from two studies on the F-22 programme because
he served on two company boards involved in the fighter jet.
The Pentagon probe concluded there was a conflict of interest even
though it determined Blair did not unduly influence the studies'
conclusions. Blair denied any wrongdoing.
USA
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