Agency Central Intelligence Plaque Seal

Posted on December 03, 2011 by Admin
Agency Central Intelligence Plaque Seal

Agency Central Intelligence Plaque Seal

On Friday January 9th 2009, Barak Obama officially announced his nomination of Leon Panetta, former Clinton White House chief of staff, to head the CIA. The nomination came as a surprise to the intelligence community, and drew sharp criticism from incoming Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Diane Feinstein (CA-D), who had not been consulted about the selection. Barak Obama’s nomination of an intelligence community outsider to the position of CIA director indicated a clean break from Bush administration policies. However, it may, also, indicate the Obama administration will have a troubled relationship with the intelligence community.

Obama’s criticism of Bush administration counter-terror policies, which the CIA had a central role in, were a key element of campaign speeches. Obama fed off of anti-war sentiment in harsh statements about administrative detentions, coercive interrogations techniques, and the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program. He won wide-spread popular support for his pledge to close Guantanamo Bay prison, and spoke consistently of the need to restore American values to the fight against terror. In 2006, Obama was one of 15 Senators to vote against the confirmation of acting CIA Director Michael Hayden, citing his role as “the architect and chief defender of a program of wiretapping and collection of phone records.” (1)