President-elect Barack Obama has chosen former White House chief of staff Leon Panetta to lead the CIA, which has been widely criticized for harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects, Democratic officials said on Monday. The choice of Panetta for Central Intelligence Agency director was one of the last major nominations for the incoming Obama administration. Panetta has relatively little experience in national security matters. He is best known for imposing order on President Bill Clinton's White House during his 1994-1997 stint as chief of staff and taming budget deficits there and during his 16-year tenure in Congress. He was a member of the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan commission that was charged with assessing a way to end the Iraq war. Obama vowed to “put a clear end to torture” and “restore” a balance between security and constitutional protections. Panetta would succeed Michael Hayden, criticized by Democrats and rights groups for defending Bush administration counterterrorism tactics. Panetta could appease Obama critics who have said that his picks for key national-security posts are insufficiently antiwar.
