Gridlock News

In case you missed some of the uproar yesterday, General Mike Hayden made some comments that were less than glowing recommendations of the administration that has nominated him to the office of CIA director. During confirmation hearings in the Senate, Gen. Hayden made references that were not affirmations that the world is rosy and happy and better off under the current wartime strategy that the US is following. Here is the fast run down of his comments: Referring to Porter Goss's CIA stint "amateur hour on the top floor. . ." He criticized Rumsfeld's attempt to "find" Saddam links to Al Qaeda. Much of his discussions even in the early days of confirmation talked about the CIA's roles in Afghanistan and Iraq as being better left to the defense department, enabling the CIA to do what they do best, gather clandestine intelligence and perform analysis. He talked about the ineffective application of subjective analysis on intelligence. He criticized the efforts of Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith, who worked to gather the intelligence against Saddam. Hayden stated, "I got three great kids, but if you tell me, 'Go out and find all the bad things they've done, Hayden,' I could build you a pretty good dossier. You'd think they were pretty bad people because that's what I was looking for and that's what I built up. That'd be very wrong, OK? That would be inaccurate. That would be misleading." This analogy referred to Feith's attempts to find all the bad about Saddam, where there was much to find, however this unbalanced approach led Feith to avoid balancing information, and analysis, even deferring to intelligence products that were lest trustworthy. Applying the 'So What' Factor As I was taught to do when I worked in intelligence, I now apply the 'So What' Factor to these comments. So What do all these comments mean? This small bit of candor arms Hayden with the touch of credibility that he needs for the Republican leadership in the Senate to claim that they believe him when he says that his actions at the NSA regarding domestic spying are OK. Its a diversion. He might have given this candor anyway, however regardless of his integrity in conversation, his integrity in conduct will always be questioned based on his actions. These comments will apply the slight bit of wind to his sails to allow him to tack through the confirmation. No one questions Hayden's intellectual capacity, however raw intellectualism can be applied in ways that help or hurt. His inability to balance his intellectual capability maneuvering loop holes to subvert the constitution as the leader of the NSA with the integrity he should have developed as he advanced to the position of a General in the intelligence community turns a spot light on the character flaw that should prevent him from assuming office as the Director of the CIA. He could make a good leader someday, but he has not demonstrated that he understands his own mistakes and as such cannot show that he has learned from those mistakes and will do better in the future. He's made it obvious that he understands some of Bush's mistakes, but can't apply that keen intellect on his own decisions and actions. A successful leader with integrity must be capable of being honest with themselves and General Hayden has not shown that. Early Warning by William M. Arkin - washingtonpost.com