by John M. Curtis
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Copyright December 8, 2007
All Rights Reserved.

ominated by President George W. Bush May 8, 2006 and confirmed by the Senate [78-15] May 26, 2006 as director of the Central Intelligence Agency, 62-year-old Michael Hayden had all the right credentials to replace former Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fl.). In the wake of Sept. 11, who better to lead the nation's premier spy agency than the career-military man and former director of the National Security Agency [1999-2005]. During his Senate confirmation hearings, voices were drowned out that U.S. intelligence failures before 9/11 were directly related to encroachment by the military. Now Hayden finds himself at the center of the CIA interrogation tape scandal, after admitting to destroying recordings of harsh interrogations. Hayden insists that the Senate Intelligence Committee knew about the CIA's tapes and intention to destroy them to protect privacy of interrogators.

      Since Bush authorized harsh interrogation techniques in the wake of Sept. 11, the CIA decided to tape the practices, included “waterboarding,” the subject of intense controversy in the confirmations hearings of Atty. Gen. Michael Mukassey. “The Agency was determined that it proceed in accord with established legal and political guidelines. So, on its own, CIA began to videotape interrogations,” Hayden wrote CIA employees, apparently to demonstrate the agency operated in concert with established international law. White House officials, including then Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, approved “waterboarding,” an interrogation technique involving simulated drowning, despite objections that constituted torture, explicitly banned by the 1949 Geneva Convention. Mukassey antagonized a bipartisan group of senators during his confirmation hearings refusing to discuss “waterboarding.”

      In the run up to the Iraq War, civilian intelligence, normally controlled by the CIA, was filtered through the Pentagon Defense Intelligence Agency, specifically the Office of Special Plans, headed by former director Douglas J. Feith. Feith cut his teeth at Harvard under neoconservative Prof. Daniel Pipes. He then took a law degree at Georgetown, shortly after joining Pipes at in the late President Ronald Reagan's National Security Agency. He then moved to the Defense Department under the late Casper Weinberger, meeting Richard Perle, Paul D. Wolfowitz and Dick Cheney—all architects of the Iraq War. Feith played a key role bypassing the CIA and supplying Bush and Cheney the fraudlent intelligence about Saddam's alleged weapons of mass destruction. Feith used the fabrications of former Iraqi exile and head of the Iraqi National Congress Ahmed Chalabi.

      Feith relied on dubious reports from Chalabi's brother-in-law, code-named “curveball,” kept in German custody in Wolfsburg. Curveball, who, according to German officials, was a mentally unstable alcoholic, fabricated claims about Saddam's mobile germ laboratories. Despite told repeatedly by German Intelligence and the CIA that Chalabi's stories were fraud, Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney relied almost exclusively on Feith. Now it's Hayden's turn, heading the U.S. civilian intelligence agency, to blow smoke. “The Agency soon determined that its documentary reporting was full and exacting, removing any need for the tapes. Indeed videotaping stopped in 2002,” said Hayden, justifying the tape's destruction. In reality, the tapes of “waterboarding” suspected Sept. 11 terrorist Ramzi Binalshibh and Abu Zubaydah give the CIA a black eye.

      Destroying the “waterboarding” videos of terrorists Ramzi Binalshibh and Abu Zubaydah, Hayden sought to spare the White House embarrassment from controversy of whether harsh interrogation techniques constituted “torture.” What matters here is that it was done in line with the law,” said Hayden, justifying his decision to destroy the CIA's record of customary interrogation practices. “Over the course of its life, the Agency's interrogation program has been of great value to our country. It has helped disrupt terrorist operations and save lives . . .” said Hayden, revealing the true White House and Pentagon policy, supported by former Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzales, that anything goes when it comes to terrorists. Approving Haden to run CIA gave the White House and Pentagon a blank check to run amok with the nation's premier civilian intelligence agency.

      Bigger questions arise of whether Hayden was ordered by the White House to destroy the tapes. It's illogical to believe the career-military man didn't follow orders coming from somewhere. “Maybe they're so incompetent they don't know,” said Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), questioning White House involvement. “I don't know how deep this goes. Could there be obstruction of justice? Yes. How far does this go up in the White House, who knew it? I don't know,” raising more serious ethical and legal breaches during an election year. Whether intended or not, Hayden handed Democrats an early Christmas gift and probably sealed the fate of the '08 election. If the chain of command went to the top, it's going to be difficult to avoid a special counsel—a nightmare for the GOP. Before the White House feels the heat, look for Hayden to get thrown under the bus.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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