CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
– INTELLIGENCE
Jan. 9, 2009 – 12:19 p.m.
Obama Names His National Intelligence Team
By Tim Starks, CQ Staff
President-elect Barack Obama closed one of the last big gaps in his administration’s slate Friday by formally announcing his national intelligence team.
As expected, Obama tapped retired Adm. Dennis C. Blair to serve as director of National Intelligence and named former U.S. House member and White House chief of staff Leon E. Panetta to head the CIA. He also announced that John O. Brennan would serve as his top homeland security and counterterrorism adviser.
With those picks, Obama rounded out his national security team. That leaves Commerce secretary as the most prominent remaining opening in the top ranks of the new administration. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson , Obama’s original choice for Commerce, withdrew last week because of an ongoing grand jury investigation into whether a California company won a New Mexico state contract after contributing to Richardson’s political causes.
Although no date has been set for confirmation hearings on the intelligence nominees, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid , D-Nev., promised to move swiftly.
“With counterterrorism operations and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan ongoing, it is vital that we move as quickly as possible to confirm these nominees,” he said.
Obama said that Brennan will serve as his homeland security adviser and deputy national security adviser for counterterrorism, White House staff posts that will not require Senate confirmation.
Brennan, a former CIA official and briefly head of the National Counterterrorism Center under President Bush, had been a candidate for director of the CIA. But his potential selection aroused resistance from some liberals who criticized his past remarks on controversial Bush administration surveillance and interrogation policies. Brennan’s new assignment could be an early step toward a possible merger of the Homeland Security Council into the National Security Council.
“It’s hard to overstate the importance of good intelligence in the 21st century,” Obama said. “Today, we face a world of unconventional challenges, from the spread of stateless terror networks and weapons of mass destruction to failed states and rogue regimes.”
Initially, several top members of the Senate Intelligence Committee signaled they might resist the Panetta pick, because of his lack of direct intelligence experience and Obama’s failure to consult with the panel.
Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., complained that she had not been informed about the decision and said Panetta, a former Clinton White House staffer with a thin intelligence resume, lacked experience.
But Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. called Feinstein and succeeded in placating her. She now says she has been convinced that Panetta would surround himself with experienced intelligence professionals.
The Panetta pick got a bipartisan pledge of support from two prominent non-ideological allies in the House Friday, Reps. Peter Hoekstra , R-Mich., and Rush Holt, D-N.J., who released a joint statement praising the pick.
“A consumer of intelligence for years, he consistently has demonstrated an ability to lead in a bipartisan fashion and always see the big picture — attributes that would benefit the CIA and our nation,” said Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, and Holt, the chair of the House Select Intelligence Oversight Panel.
House Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes , D-Texas, praised both the DNI and CIA picks.
Pointed Questions Likely
Nonetheless, Blair and Panetta are expected to encounter some pointed questions en route to their confirmations.
Blair served 34 years in the Navy, retiring in 2002 as an admiral following four years as head of the U.S. Pacific Command. He worked in numerous budget and policy positions on the Joint Staff, the National Security Council and the Navy. He also was the CIA’s first associate director for military support.
But his Navy career was not without controversy. During his term as Pacific commander, Blair was accused of going easy on Indonesian military officers accused of atrocities during a bloody conflict over East Timor, a former Portuguese colony seized by Indonesia in 1975 that became independent in 2002. Human rights activists have campaigned against Blair’s nomination, and the issue may not play well during Senate confirmation hearings, given the sensitive nature of intelligence collection.
From 2003 to 2006, Blair was president of the Institute for Defense Analyses, a Pentagon-funded research organization. He left there after the Pentagon inspector general concluded in 2006 that he should have recused himself from involvement in two institute reports about the F-22 fighter because he served on the boards of two companies that worked on the program. The report found, though, that Blair had not influenced the institute’s analysis of the F-22 or used his position for personal gain.
Hoekstra also raised concerns about Blair’s military background, citing the need for civilian leadership of the intelligence community.
Panetta served eight full terms as a House member from Monterey County, Calif., before he was selected by President Bill Clinton to head the Office of Management and Budget in 1993. He was appointed White House chief of staff in July 1994 and left for the private sector in 1997.
Most pertinent to his new assignment, he also served on the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel that made recommendations on the Iraq War to President Bush in 2006.
While Panetta dealt with intelligence in those roles, he is not an intelligence professional, and lawmakers will explore that deficit in confirmation hearings.
New Directions
The nominations appear to signal a break from controversial Bush administration policies on the interrogation and detention of terror suspects.
“I was clear throughout this campaign, and have been clear throughout this transition, that under my administration that the United States does not torture,” Obama said. “I have said that we will abide by the Geneva Conventions, that we will uphold our highest values and ideals. That is a clear charge that I’ve given to Adm. Blair and Leon Panetta.”
Outgoing Senate Intelligence Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV , D-W.Va., said, “I strongly support a sharp break with Bush administration policies that have undermined our counterterrorism efforts, particularly those related to interrogation.”
The DNI and CIA positions are the most prominent intelligence jobs in the administration, but Obama still must pick leaders of 15 other spy agencies, including the National Security Agency, which has the biggest budget and featured prominently in the electronic surveillance controversies of the Bush years.
Also Friday, Obama announced that Mike McConnell, the current DNI, would serve on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, and Michael Leiter would continue as head of the National Counterterrorism Center.
McConnell praised the pick of Blair as his successor.
“If confirmed by the Senate, he will build on the efforts of the first DNI, Amb. John Negroponte, and me to address information sharing, analytic transformation and intelligence community integration to make us better able to protect the nation,” he said in a news release.
In a letter to agency employees, current CIA Director Michael V. Hayden also praised the selection of Panetta and said he was proud to leave the agency “on a strong path forward” with a “string of victories over” Al Qaeda.
“Deputy Director Steve Kappes and I have met with Mr. Panetta, and we came away deeply impressed with his candor and clear commitment to the welfare of the men and women of CIA,” Hayden wrote. “It was apparent to us that he is eager to immerse himself in the details of intelligence and espionage.”
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