The Washington buzz machine is in overdrive, whispering that U.S. Army Gen. Dave Petraeus will be leaving Afghanistan later this year to take the helm of the Central Intelligence Agency. The current CIA boss, Leon Panetta, is rumored to be moving to the Pentagon to take over for Robert Gates (as Joe Klein suggested might happen three months ago). Gates is looking forward to heading to his Washington state home for a well-deserved retirement. And Marine Gen. James “Hoss” Cartwright, a favorite of President Obama’s and currently serving as vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, is supposed to be promoted to assume Adm. Mike Mullen’s job as chairman of the Joint Chiefs.
Such who’s up, who’s down, parlor games in D.C. date back to the city’s founding more than 200 years ago. Generally, wild speculation coalesces into conventional wisdom before being confirmed — or blown out of the water with an unexpected choice (Dan Quayle for vice president?). Petraeus allies see the prospective CIA-tapping as a canny one by the commander-in-chief: it removes Petraeus from signing up as a vice presidential pick for the GOP nominee next year – but buffs his credentials if he elects to run for the top spot himself in 2016.