Fire Napolitano? Sure. But Fire Panetta First!

In my May 25, 2009 post I hint that I had earlier called for President Obama to fire CIA Director Leon Panetta.

But here is how I closed that post, "Director Panetta must go. Americans deserve a CIA Director fully capable of keeping us safe. Panetta is not that man. He should be fired or he should resign. Republican concerns that a man of no intelligence background and with no appreciation of the gamesmanship skills required for the position were demonized at the time of Panetta’s nomination but those concerns now look so very prescient."

Here's the link to that post with three reasons supporting my call:

http://zacklyright.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html

On August 28, 2009, I repeated my call for Panetta's firing or resignation. I closed that post with, "Months ago I called for the resignation or firing of CIA Director Leon Panetta. Time and again the President has left this man, who he just had to have at CIA, twisting in the wind and without any Presidential support. The pattern was repeated again this week when Panetta argued against the re-investigation and lost. Either the Nation's top spy has the confidence of the President, whose primary responsibility is the Nation's security, or he does not. If he does not, I repeat my May 25, 2009 call that the President fire Panetta or that Panetta resign."

The link to the full August post:

http://zacklyright.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html

Earlier this week, a suicide bomber took the lives of at least 7 CIA officers in Afghanistan and it appears this was the result of a security lapse at the CIA post.

Fire the incompetent Janet Napolitano? Sure.

But as importantly, at least 7 months after I first publicly called for it, President Obama must fire CIA Director Leon Panetta. Panetta should no longer be given the dignity of being able to resign.