Though Winslow retired some years ago after a career in the nationÕs premier spook shop, he has kept in touch with the once-proud agency since he left. His conclusion: ÒI am glad IÕm not starting my career with the Central Intelligence Agency today. ItÕs not the same.Ó
What a sad commentary. And things donÕt appear to be getting any better.
Winslow confirms from his own sources what many of us have suspected: Porter Goss botched the crucially important assignment President Bush gave him -- to straighten out the CIA after the 9/11 disaster and the subsequent invasion of Iraq, which harbored none of the Òweapons of mass destructionÓ that were our primary reason for our attack.
By all accounts, Goss presided over a wholesale destruction of agency morale. He worked bankerÕs hours, failed to establish himself as a leader, neglected his mission of reorganization, drove away sorely needed key lieutenants, and made no effort to cultivate overseas counterparts. He busied himself with rooting out whistle-blowers and further politicizing a governmental entity that should avoid partisanship like the plague.
Uniform Vs. Business Suit
Now the president, having rid himself of Goss -- though perhaps for different reasons -- has nominated Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden to replace him.
But the big question is: Will the general be part of the problem or part of the solution? And itÕs a bigger question now than it was a few days ago.
Some critics balked at the idea of naming a military man to head a civilian agency. But that wasnÕt worth all the hand-wringing. As one senator said, there are more important issues to worry about than whether Hayden wears an Air Force blue uniform or a navy blue suit.
Sure enough, we now have more important issues to worry about than sartorial ones.
Since HaydenÕs nomination, USA Today has reported that the agency he formerly headed, the National Secur-ity Agency, secretly collected telephone records on tens of millions of Americans on his watch. NSA did so with the cooperation of the countryÕs three largest telecommunications companies: AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth.
Troubling New Questions
This revelation has, to say the least, muddied the wat-ers. ItÕs not even clear whether the kind of Òdata-miningÓ that went on, said to involve little or no actual listening-in on conversations, is illegal or even improper. But it has raised troubling questions that cry out for answers.
Strictly in terms of his resume, Hayden has strong qualifications. He has spent most of his 30-year military career in intelligence work. He played a key role in Herculean effort to bring the nationÕs numerous spy agencies under the office of the director of national intelligence, John D. Negroponte.
Despite his military background, he strongly supported NegroponteÕs campaign to assert authority over Pentagon intelligence agencies. This time around, Bush may be right in saying about him the same thing he said about Goss: that heÕs Òthe right man at this critical time.Ó
But the Senate, already preparing to take a close look at the Hayden nomination in hearings beginning this week, is sure to give him even more intense grilling now -- as it should. The questions go beyond one manÕs qualifications. The nation as a whole is overdue for a searching look at how it can modernize surveillance of terrorists in a high-tech age without turning itself into a Big Brother that even Orwell couldnÕt have imagined.
