CIA Dir. Leon Panetta enraged at AG Eric Holder; Resignation Looms

The move to prosecute CIA officers for their conduct during the war on terrorism is threatening to throw President Obama’s national security team into turmoil – beginning with the possible resignation of CIA Director Leon Panetta.

Panetta engaged in a “profanity-laced screaming match” at the White House, according to ABC News.com, over a plan by Attorney General Eric Holder to launch an investigation over the treatment of detainees captured in Afghanistan and other countries. At issue is how far officers should have gone in their interrogation of such terrorists as the mastermind of the USS Cole bombing.

The threat to investigate the nation’s frontline spies comes after Panetta took on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over her comments that she had never been brief regarding harsh interrogation techniques being used against Al-Qaida members. Panetta sided with his team and the written record in insisting that she had been briefed.

“You can expect a larger than normal turnover in the next year,” a senior adviser to Obama on intelligence matters told ABCNews.com.

For full article: http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/panetta_cia_holder_quit/2009/08/24/251673.html