CIA Ex-Chief Hayden Blames Bloggers, Congressional Aides for Damage Caused by His Policies

Senior intelligence community hacks like Michael Hayden and his peers are responsible for scuttling senior CIA analyst Phil Mudd's nomination to the senior DHS intelligence post.

Ex CIA chief Michael Hayden's opinion piece in the Washington Post on Friday, 19 June 2009, decried how "today's atmosphere" of mistrust in Washington caused former senior CIA analyst Phil Mudd to withdraw his nomination as Undersecretary of Homeland Security for Intelligence.

Predictably, Hayden did not take responsibility for his own role in "today's atmosphere"--in particular Hayden's own policies of excessive secrecy and shirking command responsibility for specific programs and policy on his watch.

Hayden nonetheless excoriated "the blogosphere" and chicken-hearted congressional aides for hyping up Mudd's association with discredited torture and detention practices.

But Hayden does make a worthwhile point when he asserts that the scrutiny focused on Mudd gives pause to current and future generations of intelligence officers.

I count myself as one of those intelligence officers who has reason for pause about future service inside US intelligence. But it's not cheeto-eating bloggers or opportunistic congressional staffers that I fear.

What I do fear: senior intelligence chiefs' lack of courage and leadership, which puts junior and mid-level intelligence professionals in legal and political jeopardy with disappointing regularity.

Bloggers and hill staffers--the focus of blame in Hayden's Washington Post piece--did not fabricate or make up a controversy to sabotage the Mudd nomination. Hayden and others' aversion to transparency and accountability hobbled Mudd's chances from the start.

Mudd happened to be near the mysterious, tantalizing "black box" of secrets known to the world outside of CIA as the terrorist detention and interrogation program, responsibility for which lays with Hayden and his predecessors, Porter Goss and George Tenet.

But Hayden, and now his successor, Leon Panetta, have been singularly resistant to answering legitimate inquiries into that black box of detention and torture secrets. As a result, American taxpayers and citizens don't forthrightly know what Phil Mudd was up to during those first years of fight against Al Qaeda.

Mudd was a CIA analyst, and probably was aware of the torture and detention programs. But he was almost certainly not instrumentally involved in managing or participating in actual torture or extra-judicial detentions. Unfortunately, journalists, bloggers, congressional staffers, and ordinary Americans (all belittled as "internal threats" by Hayden in his Post essay) are not able to precisely discern Mudd's involvement, if any, with that secret black box of terrorist detention and torture. Even though Americans are entitled to have a say in what CIA is doing in the Republic's name, Hayden and other CIA directors' disdain for transparency kept Mudd's record out of view.

Hayden wielded--and now Panetta wields--the power to face down CIA's institutional resistance to disclosing details of controversial intelligence programs such as rendition and torture. Instead, Hayden and Panetta have maintained that releasing such information would be damaging to morale and individual employees' careers.

It's hard to imagine that the intelligence chiefs' strategy of drawing out the controversy, instead of courageously laying it to rest, actually boosts morale in CIA hallways. Unfortunately for Mudd and the Department of Homeland Security, stonewalling legitimate inquiries into failed intelligence policies not only kills good will--it also damages loyal intelligence officers' careers.

Follow Frank Naif on Twitter: www.twitter.com/frank_naif

Comments

[S1m0n]

Criminal conduct is SUPPOSED to impact a CIA employee's career.

[zanzig]

The absolute idiocy of this is that I'd be astounded if you could find anyone at the CIA who is not tarred with the torture brush.

[pomegrante]

Hayden's just mad (him and alot of corrupt "important" people) cause of the internet ,an enormous flashlight and magifying glass. The world can now research and make up their own mind about issues.

[1differentdrummer]

Air Force four star general Michael Hayden, did you overlook that?

[Tuckerndfw]

The CIA has become so politicized & corrupt it should be eliminated.

It no longer serves any useful purpose, assuming it ever had one.

The events of 9/11/01 clearly demonstrated the ineffectiveness if not downright incompetence of its "leaders."

According to reports, the 9/11/01 conspiracy spanned multiple continents and several years. Since the CIA could not uncover that massive conspiracy, what good are they?

Assassinating "suspects" and torturing people is not a proper function for any gov't agency.

I have no idea why Congress authorized an "intelligence agency" to form para-military units, complete with rockets, bombs & missiles. How can that possibly be considered "gathering intelligence"?

Time to eliminate this embarrassment to the American people.

[kingmiller]

well said, Frank. I know I've gone private sector, and it's a shame, because we all really do love this country, but fear of reprisal due to a lack of backbone at the top is a very discouraging thing.

[jmpurser]

"today's atmosphere" of mistrust in Washington"

Hysterical hearing a perpetrator of war crimes complain about that.

Until we have open and honest investigations into war crimes everyone in the command structure of the Military, intelligence services, and politics needs to be considered tainted by torture.

[Coinyer101]

Let us not ever forget that President Obama appointed John Brennan, another torture supporter, as a Deputy in NSA,as well. Or that President Obama has made General McChrystal, another with ties to torture, as commander of forces in Afghanistan. And there was the pretty much 'blanket immunity' of any other C I A personell, given by the President. This administration has also blocked and are fighting many attempts to bring these crimes to light, by using lame excuses to block court release of documents and pics, that the ACLU has already won in lower courts. This Administration is bordering on complicity or obstruction. AG Holder needs to do his job, or resign.

[jmpurser]

I believe the "border" was crossed some time back. Obama is actively colluding in the Bush War crimes by covering them up and refusing to investigate.

[blueskybigstar]

I pray this is not true.

[blueskybigstar]

Please, call and write Obama and your Senators and representatives and tell them that this is a major concern.

[Coinyer101]

lol. I write them 2-3 times a week on many concerns. I think they prolly put me in their spam file , by now......,

[research]

The Whole world is aflame from the blow back of CIA Blunders.

[blueskybigstar]

Very true. It looks like Allen Stanford was CIA and that they were laundering again.

[sviolette]

Thanks bloggers. Now let's go get us some ex presidents and vice presidents. Some defense secretaries and Secreteries of State too.

[blueskybigstar]

Well said. We really need to change pardon law and statutes of limitations because we need to go back to Watergayte and IranContra because it is the same cast of characters that took us into Iraq.

I have an idea that I really think that will work. Boycott cable and satellite until they start being inclusive about debate like with single payer and what happened that day in September in NY.

This would send everybody a very big message.

[jmpurser]

If the bloggers did it then good on them!

[sviolette]

This is equivalent to Sanford blaming the State newspaper for his affair.

[GrainOSand]

The CIA by the very nature of the work it does must have a component of secrecy. My singular opinion says, let not that whispered or done in secret be contradictory to that screamed or postured in public. If it is rule of law above board then if one looks underneath the table, a rat infested environment of criminality they should not find. The honorable men and women of the intelligence apparatus are deserving of support, gratitude, and respect...as it is for the men and women of the military who perform their duties honorably. The less than honorable, the criminal minded, deserve full exposure in the light of day with the veil of secrecy thrown back to reveal warts, blemishes, and all.

If you want to know the true nature of an individual, give them a position of power over others and their real nature will soon float to the surface beyond whatever mask is utilized to hide. 9/11 was George Bush’s test of morality and honor in terms of his response to the tragedy. It along with Katrina was a direct light shone upon the idea of -- “Compassionate Conservative”. If Bush was compassionate I would hate to see draconian Bush or Draco Bush.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draco_(lawgiver)

[blueskybigstar]

The problem is that the CIA has done more crime than solving crime.

[GrainOSand]

A CIA operative might argue that they have engaged in activities that protect the wellbeing of the State. I would say at such a juncture of conversation -- tell me your idea of the ways, means, and role of the State. From that conversation I will be able to conclude if the meaning of the State is something I am consistent with in terms of my views on the subject. Murder and torture were not my father's America, or his father's in terms of the espoused idea of America. All we ask is that "you be true to what you said on paper." So goes another profound statement by that stalwart champion of a better way forward through love -- MLK.

Assassins, spies, clandestine and seemingly shady activity are all part of the espionage game and then some. It is advised that one should not do something in the world that if brought to the light of the day would shock and horrify. I am sure there is field language concerning this such as plausible deniability and the like. I believe in karma and God as origin of karma. No, not the religious God, but a God I would be hard pressed to try and explain in words. I believe we reap what we sow. There is centuries of crime to be paid for the world over. This remains true, and boomerangs of criminality return as they do...I fret for my beloved country, for chickens do come home.

[mediamarv]

Blame is not the correct word: thanks is correct.

[brandnewstuff]

The Indicment for his mane on a Policy that Violates International Law- The US Torture Program.,
There is no Blame- It is Criminal Culpablity. Expose and Expel

[TJCole]

This is the guy that lied about the content of the 4th Amendment.­..remember­..?

He was also a tool of Poindexter's who established criminally TIA...!

TIA - Total Information Awareness..

Which is still in effect...

[imusintheevening]

For everyone but him and his cronies - for which EVERYTHING remains a secret.....