I don't know what to make of this, but figure it can't be good!  The top spook in the country is going to be taking over Secretary of Defense Robert Gates job when he steps down JUNE 30th (hmm...same time the FED supposedly ends its QE2 as well as end of federal fiscal year).  Replacing Panetta at the CIA will be 4 star General, lead General of the Afghan front, Gen. Petraeus.  Petraeus will retire from the military to take the job.  An interesting scenario will develop when Panetta leaves his role as Lead Spook.  The CIA will be directorless until early fall when Petraeus will take over. "The CIA will be led by a deputy until the fall," this according to the AP story linked below....Is Petraeus getting a pat on the back and subsequent promotion for being a good "yes man" in Afghanistan for "the powers that be?" He's been making sure that opium is still flowing! 

It seems the CIA is attached to our government like some parasitic alien invader!  What does this bode for future wars and escalations of current wars(ground troops in Libya?)  Could some false flag attack occur during Panetta's vacancy from the beginning of July through early fall???  Would this be the excuse the WhiteHouse comes out with?  "We were in a transition period and someone let the ball drop?"  Or will Panetta just take on dual roles folding the CIA into the Dept of Defense and ending the longstanding bickering between factions within both institutions?  Who knows. What I do know is that the Secretary of Defense is top dog for Northern Command and all the commands for that matter. In a report to Congress in 2003 entitled "Homeland Security: The Department of Defense's Role" it states that 'if' National Guard units are fedealized for homeland security operations that they will come under NORTHCOM control and thus soon to be former director of the CIA Leon Panetta's control. 

The new Northern Command does not have a large number of active duty

personnel or units permanently assigned to it, but rather has units “earmarked” for

potential assignment as events warrant. National Guard units, if federalized for

homeland security operations, will come under NORTHCOM command.

http://www.fas.org/man/crs/RL31615.pdf

Never heard of NorthCOM?  Here is what it is responsible for

DOD has also created a new combatant command, Northern Command or

NORTHCOM. NORTHCOM’s mission is to:

Conduct operations to deter, prevent, and defeat threats and aggression aimed at

the United States, its territories, and interests within the assigned area of

responsibility; and, as directed by the President or Secretary of Defense, provide

military assistance to civil authorities including incidence management

operations.

NORTHCOM’s area of responsibility comprises the air, land, and sea

approaches (to 500 nautical miles) to the United States, the continental United States

itself, Alaska, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Hawaii and the

U.S. territories and possessions in the Pacific remain the responsibility of the Pacific

Command.

With regard to deterrence, the primary contribution of NORTHCOM will be its

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

Alarm bells are sounding in my head.  What about the rest of you?

(here is the MSM article about the Panella/Petraeus shuffle) BTW I love how the headline reads "Obama sending Panetta to Pentagon, Petraeus to CIA"  Like Obama is some kind of King or something, dispatching his minions as he pleases!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_national_security_changes;_ylt=...