As President Barack Obama approaches his second term with the unexpected task of filling the position of CIA Director – following David Petraeus’ sudden exit in a sex scandal – an American newspaper report contemplated the new pick could affect the future of drone programmes.
According to a report in The Washington Post, the list of possible replacements is led by three CIA veterans, who have all contributed to the agency’s pronounced shift toward paramilitary operations.
“Obama’s choice could determine whether the trajectory continues or begins to taper off,” the report noted in reference to the Obama administration’s frequent use of drones as a counterterrorism tool.
White House counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan, 57, is seen by many as the leading candidate for the CIA job. In recent months, he has expressed concern within the administration that the agency has become too focused on targeted killings, even though he has presided over the sharp expansion of the drone campaign under Obama, the report adds.
The list of potential nominees also includes acting CIA Director Michael J. Morell, 54, who is regarded as a stabilizing presence more than a proponent of change, and Michael G. Vickers, 59, a senior Pentagon official who is considered the most ardent supporter of the agency’s expanded paramilitary role.
Obama hasn’t signaled his choice or even when that decision might come, officials say.
But senior lawmakers and agency veterans said the next director will face immediate pressure to improve intelligence gathering in places beyond those patrolled by drones.
“I think this is the time for transition,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said. Counterterrorism will remain the agency’s top priority, Feinstein said, but the recent attack on U.S. compounds in Libya and mounting concerns about cyber conflicts underscore other vulnerabilities.
“We have to strengthen human intelligence in key areas,” Feinstein said, “and transition from the kind of Pakistan-Afghanistan intelligence gathering” that has dominated the agency’s agenda since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Former agency officials, including those who worked in counterterrorism, cited similar concerns over the need for a balance between paramilitary operations and intelligence collection and analysis.
Acting Director Morell is in his second stint after serving in that capacity for several months after Leon E. Panetta left to run the Pentagon and before Petraeus arrived last year.
“A career intelligence analyst, Morell is known for a sharp mind and smooth presence in meetings at the White House or on Capitol Hill. Bespectacled and bookish, Morell served as the daily briefer to President George W. Bush in 2001 and 2002, which meant he played a key role in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks but was also a conduit for the erroneous intelligence on Iraq’s alleged weapons stockpiles before that war.”
“Vickers, now undersecretary of defense for intelligence, is seen as the potential CIA candidate most closely identified with the convergence of the agency and the military, the Post noted. A former Army special operations soldier and CIA analyst, Vickers helped arm mujaheddin fighters in Afghanistan in the 1980s as part of the U.S. effort to drive Soviet forces out of the country. In his most recent assignments at the Pentagon, Vickers has fostered deeper collaboration between the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command.”