Michael Hayden, nominee for director of the Central Intelligence
Agency (CIA), defended a controversial domestic spying program
yesterday at his Senate confirmation hearing.
Testifying in open session before the Senate Intelligence
Committee, Hayden sought to ease the concerns of some senators, who
questioned the legality of the program he launched during his
tenure at the National Security Agency (NSA) from 1999 to 2005.
The program monitors phone calls between people in the US and
suspected terrorists overseas, bypassing a special federal
court.
Hayden said the program's activities are closely supervised and
reviewed.
"They are targeted at al-Qaeda, there is a probable cause
standard, and every targeting is documented," he said.
"There is a literal target folder that explains the rationale,
and the answers to questions on a very long checklist, as to why
this particular number we believe to be associated with the
enemy."
Hayden noted that the surveillance program is a necessary tool
in the war on terror.
Republican Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, chairman of the
Intelligence Committee, agreed with him.
Democratic Senator Carl Levin called on Hayden to restore what
he called "analytical independence" at the CIA if he is
confirmed.
Levin is one of many Democrats who have argued that, in the
run-up to the US-led invasion of Iraq, CIA intelligence was
manipulated to support the administration's desire to oust Saddam
Hussein.
Acknowledging prewar intelligence failures, Hayden said the
intelligence community has learned from its mistakes.
A four-star Air Force general, Hayden, 61, currently is the
deputy director of national intelligence.
If confirmed, he will succeed former CIA director Porter Goss,
who resigned earlier this month, after a stormy tenure marked by
departure of high-level CIA intelligence officers.
One of the other concerns expressed over Hayden's nomination was
whether it is wise to have someone with a lengthy military record
directing civilian spies at a time when US intelligence gathering
is already so dominated by the Pentagon.
(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2006)
