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EDITORIAL: Intelligent Choice: Michael Hayden Stands at the Center of the NSA Controversy. He Also Understands What Kind of Director the CIA Needs

Posted on: Monday, 22 May 2006, 18:01 CDT

By The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

May 22--Members of the Senate Intelligence Committee performed as expected last week during the confirmation hearing of Gen. Michael Hayden. They spent much of their time jousting over the secret domestic surveillance program at the National Security Agency. Hayden had a large hand in designing the program. He ran the NSA for six years starting in 1999. In that realm, his answers to the gathered senators were often disappointing, if not surprising. Hayden (and many others associated with the Bush team) still don't get it.

Practically everyone understands the need to improve the tools for collecting information about the al-Qaeda terrorist network. The concern is whether the new methods are subject to the necessary oversight, whether laws have been crafted to ensure accountability, whether the principle of checks and balances holds. That is not the case now, something Hayden made abundantly plain, despite his frequent vouching for the legality of the program.

That said, the actual purpose of the hearing wasn't to add another page to the debate over NSA domestic surveillance. Rather, Hayden has been tapped to lead the Central Intelligence Agency, and thankfully, senators spent part of the seven hours exploring what kind of director the general would be.

In this area, Hayden performed impressively. The agency has been badly shaken the past five years, blame cast its way for the intelligence failures of Sept. 11 and the missing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. President Bush chose Porter Goss to succeed George Tenet. Hayden offered an indirect yet accurate assessment of the Goss tenure: "You get a lot more authority when the work force doesn't think it's amateur hour on the top floor." The general did more, translating his keen experience into a vision for the agency, one in which the CIA revives its capacity to collect information and its ability to think strategically about intelligence.

One worry about Hayden has been his relative lack of exposure to the spycraft of the agency. The NSA collects information through satellites. The CIA relies heavily on the human element and a very different set of methods. The general signaled his readiness to learn by hinting at the return of Stephen Kappes, the well-regarded head of the clandestine service who departed under Goss.

Would Hayden buckle to the Pentagon, Donald Rumsfeld presiding over a large share of national intelligence, his department having pressed to expand its role? The general noted his disagreements with Rumsfeld and others at the Defense Department. He stressed the need for "a bright line" distinguishing the duties of the Pentagon and the CIA, arguing that the agency must strengthen its gathering of human intelligence and remain the government's "center of excellence" for intelligence analysis.

Of particular significance is Hayden's current job, the deputy director of national intelligence. In that way, he should be keenly aware of the restructuring necessary for the intelligence community. The CIA no longer resides at the top of the heap. It does have a critical role, one Gen. Michael Hayden appears well suited to develop and enhance.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Akron Beacon Journal, Ohio

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio)

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