The Professional
Once upon a time, when Mike Hayden was head of Intelligence in the European Command, he was known for being courageous and open minded. Intelligence collection officers working for him in the field prized his willingness to stand up for them in the face of efforts by other senior officers to suppress their reports. One fellow I know, then a major who worked for Mike, told me he'd never seen anything like it. And Mike's boss, Gen. Charles G. Boyd, Deputy Commander in the European Command, thought so highly of Mike's work that he — as he told me — used it as the basis for his 1995 article in Foreign Affairs, "Making Peace with the Guilty: The Truth About Bosnia." From the European Command Mike went on to command the Air Intelligence Agency, at Kelly AFB, Texas. He remained accessible to those concerned about the situation in the former Yugoslavia, and in particular always returned my phone calls and emails. The details and analysis he provided me were invaluable in my work, and I remain grateful for that to this day. But when Mike got lifted up to head NSA, something happened to him.
Perhaps covetous of a fourth star, perhaps finally co-opted by the system for other reasons, Mike amended — seemingly with gusto — the long-standing, Constitution based NSA prohibition against spying on Americans. One former Director of NSA (who shall remain nameless) told me he thought Mike should be court-martialed. Dissent started to simmer within NSA; more than a few complaints surfaced that Mike had cracked down on those he considered "disloyal." A purge, of sorts. He'd become a creature of the White House, whatever independence of mind he'd demonstrated previously apparently sucked right out of him.
So it's no surprise he's still carrying water for the White House on the destruction of the torture tapes scandal. And that it is even a scandal might seem unfair: for the longest time everybody's known that the agency has been (and probably still is) water-boarding those in its clutches, but nobody with power has been bothered enough to stop it. If doing it is OK, then why isn't making videos of doing it OK, or more precisely, destroying videos that have been made? Logically, this makes no sense. But true to the axiom that modern politics is getting relentlessly pushed to the lowest common public denominator, the idea of destroying what amounts to a government produced snuff film possesses terrific resonance for politicians. Finally, they smell fear, and they see leverage in an issue the public is capable of understanding. Probably Mike, who is a smart guy, understands that, while understanding also that he's left holding the bag, rationalizing the destruction of evidence, perhaps even evidence for serious criminal prosecutions.
Eventually we may well discover that Mike himself has had a hand in water-boarding and, together with Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld and the rest, remains liable before international law. It would be a most undignified end to a career that held such promise.
Posted by George Kenney on December 9, 2007 2:45 PM 
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Comments
"House" has become the only show on television I can watch these days. It's Hugh Laurie, whether a gentleman layabout in "Jeeves and Wooster" or a brilliant doctor, he nails it. Last night's repeat episode said it all, "everybody lies" he says after a confession by his patient, a Senator. Whoever writes for that show sure has the pulse of the times.
There is no moral compass when truth has no meaning. More than 2000 years ago a man was asked, "truth, what is truth?" Had the questioner been sincere he would have received an answer. Today's so called leaders don't even ask.
I wonder if we've really made any progress at all.
Posted by: mark branham | December 11, 2007 11:11 AM