Pursuing Holiness sees no intelligence = no leaks as the bright side.

The down side of President Obama’s questionable choice of  Leon Panetta, says J.G.Thayer:

But never in his storied career has he done anything that would even hint at an aptitude for intelligence.

Some of Panetta’s experiences and skills would certainly serve him well at the CIA. He would be good at making sure the Agency stays within its budget and uses its funding most efficiently. He would keep the Agency from getting too close to breaking laws. And his lengthy experiences in government would help him maintain good relations with other agencies and government bodies.

But those are all peripheral to the primary task of the CIA: to collect information, analyze it, and manage it to best uphold our national security.

We’ve seen, far too often, what happens when the CIA fails. The price is often paid in blood — American blood. “Failures of Intelligence” are often cited as the prime factors in the success of the 9/11 attacks. Such failures also lie at the heart of the the Saddam-WMD mistake. And now Barack Obama — for whatever reason — wants to put in charge of the CIA a man with literally zero experience in intelligence, espionage, and covert operations.

We need a Jack Ryan.