Appointing General Petraeus as the new Director of the CIA again, reciprocally moves the CIA to be more seamlessly connected to and integrated with the US Military, which is in reality, a shadow corporation controlled operation.
We know, or at least it is widely believed that in addition to the $700 billion declared budget for the US military there is an additional half trillion dollar black or dark budget, much of which is used for espionage and black ops. Now with Panetta and doing a do-si-do dance step, swapping turf, we can reasonably assume that any boundaries between the military and the CIA will be dissolved, eradicated, ignored, bypassed-- you choose the verbiage. Bottom line, the money will get murkier, the accountability... yes, accountability, what a wild idea... will be even harder to anchor and exact from the major players.
This is bad for America, just as the current US military system is very bad for America. Spy agency heads should not be handed more power, certainly not military power. Military commanders should not transition to become spy agency leaders. This is convenient for the president. The men have already been congressionally vetted. They are already known political commodities. But this incestuous appointment pattern is dangerous to our freedoms and is really a failure to develop new strong people, strong leaders. Surely, with 320 million Americans, Obama can find new faces.
But this is a done deal. We are moving to become a Military/Intelligence/Medical Industrial complex. These are all coming together. Let's not forget that the company that processes EasyPass also processes a large percentage of our health records... and that Google and Apple are, through our smart phones, tracking our every move.
Where will this future lead?
One thing is clear. Connecting the CIA and the military closer together, two of the President directed agencies with the most funding and power, will weaken the roll and power of the congress. Congress should oppose these appointments, if for no other reason that they will further dilute the power and influence of congress and give more power to the Executive branch. The congress has a responsibility to the constitution to protect the balance of powers between the three branches. It has abrogated that responsibility of late. It will probably do something again.
5
4
3
