CIA chief Leon Panetta, left, and National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair are at odds over the role of CIA station chiefs in U.S. embassies. Lawrence Jackson / APSenate Panel Backs DNI In Turf Battle With CIA -- Washington Post
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has weighed in on a dust-up between the nation's two main spy chiefs, asserting that Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair, and not CIA Director Leon Panetta, should have ultimate authority to name the top U.S. intelligence delegates overseas.
Blair issued a directive in May claiming the right, in "rare circumstances," to select someone other than a CIA station chief to be his representative to foreign governments or international organizations. The directive provided that, in "virtually all cases globally," the representative would be a CIA station chief and that, before the appointment of anyone else, the CIA director and the local ambassador would be consulted.
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My Comment: This is a big defeat for the CIA. CIA Director Panetta does not have the confidence nor trust of this Senate Committee on this issue, but expect more turf battles and politicking in the future.
My concern .... with all of these turf battles, do these men have enough time in the day to focus on getting terrorists and/or avoiding the next terrorist attack?