Out of the frying Panetta? Drone strikes set to increase following Obama’s security reshuffle

Early reports of President Obama’s shake-up of his defence and security team suggest it will be good news for the likes of Predator manufacturer General Atomics and bad news for anyone who’s not a fan of drone strikes.

Subject to Senate confirmation, CIA Director Leon Panetta will head to the Pentagon, with his post taken in turn by General David Petraeus, currently commanding forces in Afghanistan.

Panetta famously described CIA drone strikes in Pakistan as 'the only game in town in terms of confronting or trying to disrupt the al Qaeda leadership'. Petraeus, too, is ‘seen as a staunch supporter of the drone campaign,' according to the Washington Post.

Little wonder then that Wired responded to the news with the headline ‘Drones Rejoice!', going on to note that 'it's a good day to be an armed Predator'.

But for anyone holding out the vain hope that changes at the top of the US security establishment might lead to a change in direction on drone strikes in Pakistan, it looks set to be more a case of out of the frying Panetta and into the AGM-114 Hellfire.