Bloodless Coup

Peter Howard Defends the Panetta Pick

This makes a lot of sense to me.

He knows Washington. He knows the White House, and he knows how to serve the President, who is the CIA's main client. Lets not underestimate this kind of experience - most are looking for supply-side, Intel product production experience. Panetta has consumer, client-based experience. He knows what needs to come out of the agency, and can press the agency to produce a higher quality product that is at is useful to for the President. He also knows the budget and the Hill, so he can get the agency the money it needs and build a positive relationship with Congress.

If he stands up for his people, rewards good work, and puts together a good management team, he can do well. Recall that one former DCI, George Bush, had no intel experience when he took over, and he seems to have done quite well for himself, as they named the building after him.