Panetta pick sends a bad message

President-elect Obama has chosen Leon Panetta to be the new director of the CIA. Panetta has little experience in intelligence operations and is a critic of the Bush CIAs interrogation and detention methods. By Panetta's appointment, Obama sent an unequivocal message to our terrorist enemies that interrogation and detention methods that have been effective in preventing terrorist attacks for the last eight years are no longer in effect. Obama's clumsy handling of Panetta's appointment caused Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein to publicly complain that he hadn't consulted her about the appointment. Obama is off to the kind of start that I expected from someone who had little relevant experience or accomplishments to prepare him for the presidency.

Robert Graham

Naperville