There are some deep politics at work in the announcement that General David Petraeus is headed to the CIA and Leon Panetta, the current DCI, is headed to the Pentagon. Petraeus would be a natural to head up the DoD. He’s not an intel guy; he’s a soldier, a commander, and darn good one. His background is with the Airborne, not the Defense Intelligence Agency. He will probably do a whiz-bang job. But he understands and has thrived in military culture. The CIA is very different. Panetta has done better than expected at CIA, but again, he doesn’t have a strong Pentagon background and he’s not steeped in the culture. There are deep politics at work her: Petraeus is a political threat to the Obama Administration, so the President wants to keep him close, to prevent a possible presidential bid. DoD is too high profile; CIA is a backwater by comparison. You are supposed to be low-key and fly below the radar. Politics trumps policy and skill sets. Anyone surprised?
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