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HAYDEN WRONG MAN AT WRONG TIME
Chuck Baldwin
May 9, 2006
President George W. Bush has displayed gross misjudgment in
selecting Air Force General Michael Hayden to lead the Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA). That General Hayden has enjoyed a
distinguished career at the Defense Department is not enough
reason to place the CIA (a civilian intelligence agency) in the
hands of the military.
The Pentagon already controls over 80% of the intelligence budget.
With General Hayden at the helm of the CIA, military officers
would run our most secretive spy agencies, including the National
Security Agency (NSA) and the Defense Intelligence Agency
(DIA).
I seldom agree with Senator Diane Feinstein of California, but she
was absolutely right when she recently said, "You can't have the
military control most of the major aspects of intelligence. [The
CIA] is a civilian agency and meant to be a civilian agency."
Democrats are not the only members of Congress rightly
concerned about this appointment. The Chairman of the House
Intelligence Committee, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-Michigan), said
that General Hayden would be "the wrong person, the wrong place,
at the wrong time."
I agree.
Adding to the cloud of suspicion surrounding Hayden's
appointment is the manner in which President Bush has already
demonstrated a total disregard for the rule of law in regard to
governmental surveillance and intelligence gathering. While
claiming he is protecting the American citizenry from terrorism,
President Bush is actually subjecting the American citizenry to
terrorism of a different kind: the terrorism committed against the
U.S. Constitution, the fundamental right of privacy, and the rule of
law by over-reaching federal authorities! The Hayden appointment
only exacerbates this problem!
Former Republican Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia astutely
noted that while General Hayden once correctly and clearly stated
that the law required the federal government to obtain a court order
before ordering or allowing the NSA (which Hayden at the time
headed) to conduct electronic surveillance of American citizens, he
has since (after receiving an extra star by Bush) changed his tune
and now unequivocally supports the very same surreptitious spying
on Americans that he previously said was unlawful. (Of course, it
was this same General Hayden that actually oversaw the
controversial warrantless wiretapping program.)
Bush's propensity to consolidate federal power should be
extremely unnerving to all lovers of liberty! That he now wants to
put the military in charge of the CIA should be met with vehement
resistance from both the American people and their representatives
in Congress! Each of us should contact our senators and urge them
to reject General Hayden as the next CIA chief!
© Chuck Baldwin
Original Article
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