Panetta: Stop Picking on my CIA

The chickens are coming home to roost for our intelligence community:

CIA Director Leon Panetta warned in an article published Saturday that the country's premier intelligence agency has been hurt by a climate of recriminations in Congress over its past practices.

"I've become increasingly concerned that the focus on the past, especially in Congress, threatens to distract the CIA from its crucial core missions: intelligence collection, analysis and covert action," Panetta wrote in an op-ed piece published in the online edition of The Washington Post.

Some members of Congress have pressed for a fuller investigation of the past practices of the intelligence agencies during the George W. Bush administration's war on terrorism.

But Panetta, a former California congressman and critic of the CIA's interrogation programs, argued for a truce in the political battles.

"The time has come for both Democrats and Republicans to take a deep breath and recognize the reality of what happened after Sept. 11, 2001," he said.

"Intelligence can be a valuable weapon, but it is not one we should use on each other. As the president has said, this is not a time for retribution," he added.

Panetta said the agency has ended controversial interrogation and detention practices authorized by the administration of president George W. Bush.

"Yet my agency continues to pay a price for enduring disputes over policies that no longer exist," he wrote.

Leon Panetta threw his own agency under the bus awhile ago, so he shouldn't be surprised that Congress is still taking potshots at the agency. There was never any doubt in my mind that the constant attacks from Democrats in Congress was going to hurt our intelligence capability. The agency is probably completely demoralized these days and afraid to do some of the hard work for fear of new criticism.

It's a mess that didn't have to happen.