[Infowarrior] - Senate Confirms Hayden as CIA Director

[Richard Forno]

Senate Confirms Hayden as CIA Director

By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 26, 2006; 1:57 PM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/26/AR2006052600
270_pf.html

The U.S. Senate today confirmed Gen. Michael V. Hayden as the new director
of the CIA by a large bipartisan majority, sending a career intelligence
professional to take over an agency roiled by internal turmoil and the
departures of top managers.

The Senate voted 78-15 to confirm Hayden as President Bush's choice to
replace Porter J. Goss, who announced May 5 that he was stepping down after
20 months on the job.

Hayden, 61, an Air Force general, headed the National Security Agency from
1999 to 2005 before being tapped to serve as the top deputy to the new
director of national intelligence, John D. Negroponte. At the NSA, he
presided over the launching of secret, warrantless eavesdropping and phone
call-tracking programs that stirred intense controversy when they were
disclosed in newspaper reports. Hayden and other Bush administration
officials have defended the programs as vital for efforts to detect and
defeat terrorist plots, but critics have charged that they violate
Americans' civil liberties and fly in the face of U.S. law governing
domestic monitoring of communications.

Hayden was questioned sharply about the programs at his confirmation hearing
last week before the Senate Intelligence Committee. But he largely won over
skeptical Democrats by demonstrating his strong qualifications and pledging
to provide unvarnished, nonpartisan intelligence estimates to
decision-makers.

The committee voted 12-3 to recommend confirmation by the full Senate. The
only "no" votes were cast by Democrats Ron Wyden of Oregon, Russell D.
Feingold of Wisconsin and Evan Bayh of Indiana.

Today, the lone Republican vote against Hayden came from Sen. Arlen Specter
of Pennsylvania, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He said he
voted no "as a protest" after having clashed with the administration over
the NSA surveillance program. Specter has introduced a bill that would
require some judicial review of the monitoring.

Bush commended the Senate for confirming Hayden and cited the "bipartisan
majority" supporting him.

"Winning the war on terror requires that America have the best intelligence
possible, and his strong leadership will ensure that we do," Bush said in a
written statement. "General Hayden is a patriot and a dedicated public
servant whose broad experience, dedication and expertise make him the right
person to lead the CIA at this critical time. I look forward to working with
Ambassador Negroponte, General Hayden and the other leaders of our
intelligence community as we continue to address the challenges and threats
we face in the 21st century."

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) said Hayden would "provide
steady guidance" at a "critical time for the CIA."

In a statement, he said, "With 20 years of experience in the intelligence
community, [Hayden] is the right man for the job. He's committed to
strengthening and reforming our intelligence community. He's made clear his
interest in an open and honest relationship with Congress and his respect
for our oversight role."

The Senate minority leader, Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.), also praised Hayden,
even as he blasted the Bush's administration's "incompetence," which he said
has left the intelligence community in "disarray."

Reid said in a lengthy statement that he hopes Hayden "will provide the CIA
the kind of nonpartisan leadership it has sorely lacked for the past several
years." He said he also hopes the nomination "signifies that the Bush
administration has recognized, finally, that professionals, not partisans,
should be put in charge of national security." The comment was an indirect
swipe at Goss, 67, who served as a Republican congressman from Florida for
nearly 16 years before Bush nominated him as CIA director in 2004. Goss, who
chaired the House Intelligence Committee for seven years until his
nomination, came under criticism for installing aides at the CIA who were
regarded as politically partisan.

Citing Hayden's "impeccable credentials" as an intelligence professional,
Reid said in his statement that the general had convinced him that he
"understands and respects the role of Congress in national security
matters." The Senate's top Democrat said Hayden faces three major
challenges: ending the "politicization" of intelligence, being open to
congressional oversight and "fixing our strategy" in the war on terrorism.

"After more than four years of the war on terror, Osama bin Laden remains at
large and al-Qaeda and other radical fundamentalist terrorist organizations
pose a grave threat to our security," Reid said. "Terrorist attacks have
increased, not decreased, on this administration's watch."

Referring to Iran and North Korea, Reid said that "two of the three
so-called Axes of Evil are more dangerous today than they were when
President Bush first uttered that memorable phrase." He added that the
third, Iraq, "is on the verge of becoming what it was not before the war --
a haven and launching pad for international terrorists. And America's
standing in the world has reached record lows in critical regions of the
world."

Saying it was a "travesty" that bin Laden is still on the loose nearly five
years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Reid called on Hayden to redouble
efforts to go after top terrorist targets and build a "global human
intelligence capability" that will help the United States "win the battle of
ideas going on within the Islamic world."
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