Leon Panetta…Feckless Crapweasel*

Yesterday Obama’s nominee to head the CIA basically accused the agency he wants to run of violating the law. Today, not so much.

The United States will continue to hand foreign detainees over to other countries for questioning, but only with assurances they will not be tortured, Leon Panetta told a Senate committee considering his confirmation as CIA director.

That has long been U.S. policy, but some former prisoners subjected to the process — known as extraordinary rendition_ during the Bush administration's anti-terror war say they were tortured.

"I will seek the same kind of assurances that they will not be treated inhumanely," Panetta said Friday in his second day before the Senate Intelligence Committee. "I intend to use the State Department to be sure those assurances are implemented and stood by, by those countries."

Panetta formally retracted a statement he made Thursday that the Bush administration transferred prisoners for the purpose of torture.

"I am not aware of the validity of those claims," he said.

Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., chastised Panetta for careless words. "You cannot be making statements or making judgments based on rumors and news stories," he said.

So, is Panetta prone to tossing out inflammatory statements he isn't sure are true or is he willing to shade what he honestly knows to be true for the sake of political expediency? I have to say, neither option is particular appealing in a prospective head of the CIA.

Obama fan girl Andrea Mitchell says CIA leaders were not happy with Panetta throwing them under the legal bus still accused Sen. Bond of, “carrying the water for the agency” when he confronted Panetta.

I’m sure lefties will be satisfied that Panetta is just saying what he needs to say about ‘torture’ and that he’s really on their side. Either way, a guy with little to no intelligence experience has pissed off the people he is supposed to lead by stepping on the biggest landmine out there before he even gets the gig. No, this will work out great. No problems at all.

*As always, thanks to Jonah Goldberg for coining that particular insult.

posted by DrewM. at 12:46 PM

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