Goss And Effect

From IBD:
National Security:

CIA Director Porter Goss found out the agency wasn't quite ready for reform. His replacement, Gen. Michael Hayden, is under attack, but is he the target or is it the NSA surveillance program he ran?

Goss' departure caught many by surprise. Yet it may have been inevitable. He was, after all, trying to tame an agency that seemed to have its own agenda, one often at odds with the president it supposedly served.

Though a former intelligence agent himself, Goss wasn't a "company" man. He was also "horrified" by leaks to the press, including leaks from sources within the agency itself.

Long knives are already out for his replacement, Gen. Michael Hayden. Opponents include Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who insists, "You can't have the military control most of the major aspects of intelligence." And why not? Aren't they on our side ( a question that needs to asked about the agency he will head)?

When Feinstein says "military," we suspect she means Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who is asked every five minutes or so about "speculation" he will resign. Her objections, however, don't give us much pause.

The same can't be said about those of Republican Peter Hoekstra, the able chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. He insists Hayden is "the wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time," and we trust his concerns will get a full airing.

Let's also keep in mind that, for all the huffing and puffing about who the next CIA director will be, ultimate responsibility for the CIA and 15 other spy agencies now rests with new National Intelligence Director John Negroponte.

That said, it appears Hayden is qualified. Before he became principal deputy director under Negroponte this spring, he successfully led the supersecret National Security Agency, managing civilian and military personnel.

He has experience as a senior staff officer in Europe and Asia, no small matter for a country conducting a worldwide war on terror. He knows what kind of intelligence support we need to win that war. He worked as a defense attache in Bulgaria, a position that's often a cover for intelligence gathering.

His service at the NSA, and supervision of the warrantless surveillance program that eavesdropped on al-Qaida agents overseas and their contacts in the U.S., is what the opposition will zero in on.

Sen. Arlen Specter, the Judiciary Committee chairman, told "Fox News Sunday" that the Senate may use its role in the nomination process as "leverage" to learn more about the program.

Since the program's exposure by The New York Times, Hayden has been unapologetic about its usefulness in defending us against future terrorist attacks.

Those who accuse President Bush of violating the law haven't read it. It clearly states: "The president, through the attorney general, may authorize electronic surveillance without a court order under this subchapter to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year" of those who "knowingly engage in sabotage or international terrorism, or activities that are in preparation therefore, for or on behalf of a foreign power."

The 9-11 commission found that two of the hijackers had been communicating from San Diego with al-Qaida operatives overseas. Had we been able to listen in on their conversations, history might have changed dramatically.

Hayden, unlike some at the CIA, knows which side he's on. He also knows we're at war and what it takes to win that war. Finally, he knows that the Constitution we defend is not a suicide pact. All in all, he's a solid choice.