If and when he is confirmed, Leon Panetta will be running the CIA from the Headquarters Compound in Langley, Virginia, the George H.W. Bush Center for Central Intelligence.
For those who have been fueling an uproar over the proposed new Director’s lack of experience in the spook profession, the naming of the CIA’s head office may offer some perspective.
In 1998, urging the House of Representatives to approve it, Rep. Porter Goss of Florida said, “Bush demonstrated leadership and trustworthiness at a time when both were desperately needed to help restore confidence in the Central Intelligence Agency and the other intelligence agencies that make up our intelligence community.”
The bill was passed with bipartisan enthusiasm, naming the headquarters for a director who had served barely a year and had come to the position with no background in intelligence.
For those who are complaining about Panetta, the story gets worse.