The last thing in the world these folks want is an "outsider", i.e., someone not from the old boys and gals spy network, poking through the files of the agency's activities for the last eight years. And the reason is that many of them are directly guilty of, or complicit in, a wide range of illegal and/or criminal activities under both United States law and international law. To go all Catholic on you, they are guilty of sins of commission and omission. This includes some very high ranking members of Congress of both parties.
So when Senator Dianne Feinstein (D. CA), the new chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, heard through the news media about the Panetta appointment needless to say not only were her senatorial feathers ruffled but her self-preservation system went on high alert. Along with the departing chair, Jay Rockefeller (D. WV), they let it be known how inappropriate and dangerous it would be at this grave time of war and terrorism for an intelligence novice to be placed at the head of the CIA. And Ms. Feinstein hinted that as chair she would vigorously challenge Mr. Panetta's credentials for the post.
And why, you may well ask, would such high-ranking members of the new president's own party be so bold as to publicly challenge him over this appointment? It's rather simple actually. It is just another example of the age old practice know as CYA...covering your ass. You see, both Senators Feinstein and Rockefeller have been members of the United States Senate Select Committee for Intelligence (SSIC) for the last few years and as such have been privy to the deepest darkest secrets of the Agency.
This means they have known about the Agency's use of "rendition" which is the illegal removal of an individual for interrogation to a third country where extreme interrogation techniques are permitted, the use of such extreme techniques which, for want of a better term, are, in effect, torture. They have also been complicit in the effective emasculation of the FISA law and court and thereby violated the Constitutional safe guards to the right to privacy for any and all American citizens. Small wonder they are panicked over Panetta's appointment.
The bottom line is that every person, be they Republican or Democrat, who have actively or passively participated in the high crimes and misdemeanors committed by the Bush administration should be called to account for those actions.
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