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May 8th, 2006 - Hayden Nominated
to Head CIA News
article by the Washington Post |
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By Bill Brubaker, Fred Barbash and Dafna Linzer Washington Post Staff Writers Monday, May 8, 2006; 3:54 PM President Bush named Gen.
Michael V. Hayden as CIA director today in the face of criticism from
Republicans as well as Democrats. In an indication that even
more changes are planned at the agency, officials said Hayden's deputy would
likely be former CIA deputy director of operations Stephen R. Kappes, who
resigned less than two months after Porter J. Goss took over as CIA director
in late 2004. Goss was forced to resign
last Friday after a turbulent tenure marked by an exodus of some of the
agency's top talent, including Kappes. At a brief televised oval
office appearance, Bush cited Hayden's background of "more than 20 years
of experience" as he announced the nomination, which was widely reported
over the weekend. Bush reeled off Hayden's
lengthy resume - head of the National Security Agency, commander of the old
Air Intelligence Agency and most recently deputy to national intelligence
director John D. Negroponte - before pronouncing him "the right
man" to lead the CIA as it confronts the war on terror. There was no indication from
Bush or Hayden this morning that Hayden, a four-star Air Force general, would
consider retiring to alleviate concern about an active duty officer leading
the nation's civilian intelligence agency. Bush took no questions and
did not address specific concerns about the Hayden appointment, which include
the military issue as well as Hayden's role as NSA chief in the controversial
program of domestic surveillance revealed last year by the New York Times. In a news conference less than
two hours later, Negroponte said of the suggestion that Hayden retire from
the military before assuming the CIA job: "My understanding is, that is
not his intention at this particular time." Negroponte called Hayden a
"blunt spoken" and "very, very independent-minded person"
who won't have "any difficulty whatsoever staking out positions that are
independent and responsive to the needs of our civilian intelligence
community." The CIA has been in turmoil
for much of Bush's presidency, after the failures to prevent the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the flawed
prewar assessments of Iraq's weapons programs. Those events were followed by
18 months of CIA management under Goss, who was forced aside last week amid plummeting
morale during a time of war. Today, Negroponte praised
Goss's work as CIA director. "During Porter's
tenure, the senior al-Qaeda leadership, those most responsible for the 9/11
attacks, has been significantly degraded," he said. He also denied reports that
Goss had been fired. "Porter had talked for
some time about the possibility of leaving public service," Negroponte
said. "I think that the president just felt that this was an opportune
time." Then Negroponte disclosed
that Kappes is the "leading contender" to become Hayden's deputy,
if Hayden is confirmed by Congress. Less than two months after
Goss took over, Kappes and his deputy, Michael Sulick, resigned in protest
over a demand by Goss's chief of staff, Patrick Murray, that Kappes fire Sulick
for criticizing Murray. Kappes "was the guy who
a generation of us wanted to see" as CIA operations chief, Gary
Berntsen, a former CIA operations officer, told The Washington Post said
recently. "Kappes's leaving was a painful thing. It made it difficult
for [Goss] within the clandestine service. Unfortunately, this is something
that dogged him during his tenure." In the news conference,
Negroponte made a point of praising Kappes. "As you may know, he is
currently retired from the CIA but was one of their leading case officers and
a leading member of their clandestine service," Negroponte said.
"So I think his skill sets, together with General Hayden's background,
will form a very nice balance, if you will, of the leadership team at the
CIA." Later, answering a question
about morale problems at the CIA, Negroponte said the appointment of Hayden
and Kappes would be "a boost for the morale out there." Minutes before the
presidential announcement, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) issued a statement
supportive of the Hayden nomination but suggesting that he "consider retiring
from the Air Force ... to send a signal of independence from the
Pentagon." "That would put to rest
questions about whether an active duty military officer should lead the CIA
at this time," Collins said. Earlier, Stephen Hadley, the
national security adviser, took to the morning television shows to defend
Hayden. Responding to concerns about
having a military officer in the key civilian intelligence job, Hadley said
that "the military background is in many ways a plus. ... But make no
mistake, when he steps in, he will not be reporting to Don Rumsfeld,"
the secretary of defense. "I would point out that
there have been several heads of the Central Intelligence Agency who have
been military officers, Hadley said on "Good Morning America." "There are officers
serving in that agency. The question is not military versus civilian; the question
is the best man for that job. And Mike Hayden really has that capacity. "He's run a big
organization. He knows how to transform a big organization. He's committed to
the agenda of intelligence reform." "And," said
Hadley, "he's not just a military officer; he's had broad experience in
the intelligence business. He's been involved in human intelligence, has been
in an embassy overseas, which involves him in the overseas operations. He's
served on the National Security Council staff in terms of the presidency of
Bush 41," Hadley continued. "So this is a kind of broad-gauged guy,
a change agent committed to reform, and he can really do great things for the
country as head of the Central Intelligence Agency." Republican chairmen of the
House and Senate intelligence panels raised serious concerns Sunday about
Hayden with Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Permanent
Select Committee on Intelligence, calling him "the wrong man at the
wrong place at the wrong time." Other Republicans and
Democrats, appearing on Sunday talk shows, praised Hayden's credentials but
said they, too, are troubled by President Bush's decision to place a military
officer at the helm of a civilian intelligence agency. Hayden has defended
Bush's domestic eavesdropping program, run by the NSA under Hayden's
leadership, since its disclosure in December. The challenges to Hayden's
nomination come when Bush is politically at his weakest and Republicans are
distancing themselves from the White House in the hopes of retaining their
grip on Congress in the midterm elections. White House officials said
they would not shy away from a fight with Democrats over what Bush has termed
a "terrorist surveillance program," if that becomes the focus of
Hayden's hearings. With the country essentially divided on the effort, which
has allowed the NSA to scan the calls and e-mails of more than 5,000
Americans, the president has more support on that issue than most others. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.),
who chairs the Judiciary Committee, has fought to obtain more information
about the program, which he has said he believes is operating outside the
law. Although Hayden is
considered to be one of the most popular intelligence briefers on the Hill,
Specter has said he has been frustrated by the amount of information Hayden
has shared with the committee. As a result, Specter said, confirmation
hearings should center on the legality of the program that Hayden designed
and ran in secret after the Sept. 11 attacks. At his news conference
today, Negroponte corrected a reporter's characterization of that program. "First of all, I
wouldn't call it domestic spying," he said. "I mean, this is about
international terrorism and telephone calls between people thought to be working
for international terrorism and people here in the United States." Thinking ahead to Hayden's
confirmation hearing, Negroponte said: "It'd be fair to say that we
expect quite a bit of questioning about this issue. But I believe that
General Hayden will be very, very well equipped and very well prepared to
answer any questions that might arise." Asked if the United States
is conducting warrantless wiretapes on "purely domestic calls,"
Negroponte said: "To the best of my knowledge, absolutely not." Staff writer Dana Priest and
Peter Baker contributed to this report. © 2006 The Washington Post
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