The anticipated nomination of Air Force General Michael V. Hayden to head CIA looks to be the hot political discussion ticket for today. It could head the news cycles for several days if some of the underlying battles play out.
The White House appears ready to have Hayden be the point man on the NSA surveillance program via the necessary confirmation hearings. And opponents of the program look to be gearing up for the same battle. They'll lose.
The nomination of Gen. Michael V. Hayden to take over the CIA would trigger a fresh battle over the secret warrantless surveillance program he oversaw on behalf of President Bush, a debate that could help shape the contours of the fall midterm congressional elections, officials in both parties said yesterday.
Rather than steer away from a Hayden nomination because of the controversy, the White House seems ready for a new fight over it, convinced that it has public support and that Democrats opposing Hayden's confirmation would risk looking weak on terrorism. Democrats yesterday began formulating a strategy built around grilling Hayden during hearings and then determining whether any refusal to answer questions provides enough justification to oppose his confirmation.
There's also opposition from some based upon Hayden being a military guy. They suggest that with that being the case, it could play into what is seen as Rumsfeld's power grab over the Intelligence area. But that's far from clear given that Hayden has had issues with Rumsfeld before and looks to be the type to stand his ground. Also, Negroponte as Director of National Intelligence is really the key player in Intelligence right now.
Despite his military background, Hayden, 61, is something of a nonconformist. There is a pattern in his career of independent thinking, probably one reason he was able to thrive in the current security environment.
If you look at how Intelligence has to change to meet the challenges in today's world, there's actually a case to be made around more synergy between the military and civilian branches. The CIA had to contract out for anything larger than a one or two man operation. And the nature of rooting out terrorists might require more capability than that. Good intelligence combined with small to medium quick response military teams, in line with Rumsfeld's new vision for the military, might just be what is most needed in our GWOT.
David Ignatius at the Washington Post tells us what we already knew - that the CIA is in bad shape. While he acknowledges that was mostly the case before Goss arrived, what he fails to point out is that sometimes you have to tear things down further before you can build them back up. Taken as a whole, Hayden's credentials look incredibly impressive. And the NSA program battle might be a very positive thing to see, ultimately breaking in favor of the White House in the end.
If confirmed, Hayden's next hurdle would be running and re-energizing the CIA. A senior intelligence official who was willing to discuss Hayden on the condition of anonymity said his qualifications for CIA director are numerous. "He is affable, he is nice and he is probably the senior most qualified intelligence officer in the United States," the official said.
Unfortunately, as evidenced by the quote above, the damned place is still leaking like a sieve.
Might be that a few more senior intelligence officials still have to go. At least they'd have a nicer guy moving them on their way.
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