Hayden: ‘I Wasn’t Comfortable’ With Administration’s Approach To Iraq Intelligence
Hayden: ‘I Wasn’t Comfortable’ With Administration’s Approach To Iraq Intelligence
This morning, Gen. Michael Hayden was asked at his nomination hearing about whether he was comfortable with the Bush administration’s pre-war attempts to link Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda. Watch his answer to Sen. Carl Levin’s question:
Transcript:
LEVIN: Secretary of Defense for Policy, Mr. Feith, established an intelligence analysis, so within his policy office at the Defense Department. While the intelligence community was consistently dubious about links between Iraq and al Qaeda, Mr. Feith produced an alternative analysis asserting that there was a strong connection. Were you comfortable with Mr. Feith’s office approach to intelligence analysis?
HAYDEN: No, sir, I wasn’t. I wasn’t aware of a lot of the activity going on, you know, when it was contemporaneous with running up to the war. No, sir, I wasn’t comfortable.
What Hayden makes clear is that, despite Bush’s assertion that the pre-war intelligence process “broke down,” the false intelligence about Iraq’s connection to al Qaeda was intentionally fabricated by political leaders, not intelligence analysts. Feith, Wolfowitz, and others in the Pentagon set up a stovepipe “to get the information they wanted directly to the top leadership” to make the case for war. Hayden and other intelligence experts got steamrolled when it mattered most.
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During his confirmation hearing today, General Michael Hayden showed he did his homework and finally learned the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
For more on probable cause, reasonableness and Hayden’s changing defenses of the illegal Bush NSA domestic spying program, see:
“Hayden Learns the 4th Amendment.”
May 18th, 2006 at 12:44 pmWow, he just threw Bush under the bus.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:00 pmIf anything this hearing will shed some light on the program of lies the Bush administration has run on the war.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:02 pmWow, yet another piece of evidence that shows that intelligence was manipulated and the american people and congress were blindsided in the interest of going to war with Iraq.
This is all so consistant with the Straussian method of governing over liberal societies such as ours. Accord to Strauss, the executive branch or maybe even the entire government should operate with a mysterious aura that keeps its people in the dark. See the first segment of the BBC documentary “The Power of Nightmares” videos on Google Video…
The Straussian way of government is supposed to be similar to how a lawyer in a television show from the 50’s operated (I forget the title..); you never know if the lawyer is telling the truth or being less than honest in order to prove that his client is innocent. All the watcher knows is that the lawyer is simply protecting his client, and it is never revealed to the viewer how far he’s going in order to prove his client’s innocence, or if the client is actually guilty.
This is the exact same method being used on the American people… All we know is that we are taking out Saddam Hussein, and we’re sopposed to be kept in the dark as to whether or not we’re being misled by either the motives or the supporting evidence. It doesn’t matter what the “FACTS” provide. We aren’t supposed to be catching on, because we aren’t capable of understanding what is good or bad for America, and innocence or guilt, fact or fiction isn’t important when the government is doing what’s “best” for America.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:04 pmOh yes, these are tough questions. (barf)
More dog and pony show for the public. He may not have been comfortable, but he sure didn’t do anything about it did he?
Just more tricks for us stupid stupid citizens of the former Democracy formerly known as The United States of America. Good thing us Americans are fat, that way it takes longer for us to die in the concentration camps.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:10 pmHe’s just trying to make it seem as if he would speak truth to power.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:19 pmIf they buy it, they’re more stupid than I thought.
wow, that’ll show he’s independent, just like Specter, Roberts, Hagel, and John “Salad Fork” McCain.
Those guys are sooooooooooooooo independent.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:20 pmCan you say liar, liar, pants on fire?
These people will say anything to be confirmed. After that, it’s every man for himself!!
May 18th, 2006 at 1:29 pmHere’s a little background info on General Hayden and the NSA phone records program. To claim that he was just following orders in the NSA spying ignores the fact that he was advocating curtailing civil liberties in favor of aggressive surveillance. Now, he’s just saying he was just a lackay. Not True.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:29 pmAll Hayden said is that he wasn’t comfortable with Mr. Feith’s approach to intelligence analysis. No he most certainly did not say that there was false intelligence, or that Iraq’s connection to Al-Qaeda was fabricated. Dream on losers! I’m sure you’d rather forget that we had forty-nine countries who were publicly committed to the Coalition, including:
Afghanistan
Albania
Angola
Australia
Azerbaijan
Bulgaria
Colombia
Costa Rica
Czech Republic
Denmark
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
Georgia
Honduras
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
Japan
Kuwait
Latvia
Lithuania
Macedonia
Marshall Islands
Micronesia
Mongolia
Netherlands
Nicaragua
Palau
Panama
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Rwanda
Singapore
Slovakia
Solomon Islands
South Korea
Spain
Tonga
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States
Uzbekistan
I’m sure everyone of them just signed on because George Bush and America told them to. Bush managed to falsify everyones intelligence and lie to the whole world—My ass!
May 18th, 2006 at 1:31 pmYes, Bush did lie to the whole world. That is why we are now, as a nation, more hated than at any other time in history.
Most countries went along because
1. We give them money (as in financial aid)
2. They do not have armys and therefore did not need to send their people to die.
3. They did not have to fund any part of this war.
But hey, other than that, they fully support us!!!
May 18th, 2006 at 1:34 pmSo the Solomon Islands had a lot of HUMINT on the ground in Iraq in 2003 so they knew Chimpy was telling them the truth?
May 18th, 2006 at 1:35 pmSo all the countries that didn’t sign on (germany, France, etc) Look at the intelligence and disagreed. They all Looked at the intelligence that the USA had so yes they signed on because Bush told them to. nice try though.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:37 pmTHIS is the “smoking gun” supporting calls for articles of IMPEACHMENT…
…for TREASON…
…for WAR CRIMES…
…for CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY…
…against the criminals George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Wolfowitz, Feith, Perle, Adelman, and all of the pre-war propagandists and liars that got us into this mass murdering DISASTER that is Iraq!
…If there is any JUSTICE in the world, the Bushites MUST be held accountable…
…lest America lose ALL credibility forever…
…this is the legacy that inbred Bushites have foisted upon America…
…by supporting/voting for deserters and cowards (Bush-Cheney et al.)
May 18th, 2006 at 1:37 pmTurkey was not committed to the coalition sunbeam – their parliament blocked the use of US forces from Turkey. And your Ass? Its getting handed to you every day on the streets of Baghdad – why aren’t you there chickenhawk?
May 18th, 2006 at 1:38 pmThe Solomon Islands relied on the field ops of Tonga. Those lying Tonganeese.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:41 pm#10 – My ass!
Comment by Antagonist
Yes, your ass, too.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:44 pmNot sure what your ass has to do with the fact that George W Bush and friends lied in front of the UN about mushroom clouds to get a bunch of tiny little countries to send troops to fight an illegal war.
Most of the “Coalition of the Willing” sent a handful of troops, to cover logistic and other non-combat jobs.
The only two countries that sent more than a handful of troops were Britain and Australia. Why? Because they are in on the lies.
Moron.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:44 pmNo he most certainly did not say that there was false intelligence, or that Iraq’s connection to Al-Qaeda was fabricated. Dream on losers! I’m sure you’d rather forget that we had forty-nine countries who were publicly committed to the Coalition, including:
Comment by Antagonist — May 18, 2006 @ 1:31 pm
Dumbass – if you cherry pick info that agrees with your policy and stifle info that would show that the information that you are putting forth is categorically false – YOU HAVE LIED!!!
And if your lies convince congress, the American public, and the world community that there is a threat where none exists – then they should (1) never ever trust you again and (2) hold you accountable for every crime you have committed against humanity.
May 18th, 2006 at 1:45 pmI heard that all the Icelandic field ops were picked up when they ran out of sunscreen
May 18th, 2006 at 1:50 pmAh US intelligence and presidential lying, these were the days weren’t they?
“President Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis sent his secretary of state to Paris to meet with de Gaulle. And in the middle of the discussion, to tell them about the missiles in Cuba, he said, “Here, let me show you the photos.” And de Gaulle waved them off and said, “No, no, no, no. The word of the president of the United States is good enough for me.” ” – John Kerry, first presidential debate, 2004
Does any nation today believe the word of the president of the United States?
May 18th, 2006 at 1:56 pmThe happy news from Iraq just keep s coming:
NBC News
May 17, 2006
Lawmaker: Marines killed Iraqis ‘in cold blood’
May 18th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
#10, COALITION OF THE WILLING (to be bribed and bullied)
May 18th, 2006 at 2:06 pm#22 – Quick call Colin Powell – they need the My Lai touch
May 18th, 2006 at 2:14 pmFaiz – I heard the ENTIRE Levin interrogation of Gen. Hayden this morning. You seemed to have missed a bit. However, you are being recognized for your dedication and unswerving persistence.
Congratulations!!!! I am appointing you “Cherry-picker Extraordinnaire” – of course, including the ENTIRE Levin-Hayden transcript would not reflect the progressive point of view.
May 18th, 2006 at 2:26 pmSmae thing we recognize about you. How is da furor these days. Is he as nervous as he appears?
May 18th, 2006 at 2:28 pmI’m sure everyone of them just signed on because George Bush and America told them to. Bush managed to falsify everyones intelligence and lie to the whole world—My ass!
Comment by Antagonist #10
AntiChrist,
Actually it’s awhole lot less complicated than your puny little inbred mind could imagine…
…he (Bushiva- no actually America’s taxpayers) simply paid them…
May 18th, 2006 at 2:31 pmHow’s that Coalition of the Willing Antagonist?
Washington Post
May 17, 2006
Italian Leader Calls Iraq Occupation ‘Grave Error’
Peacekeeping roles. That means they aren’t fighting on the front lines along side our troops. Much the same is true of the rest of the Coalition of the Willing. They are willing to be there, but not willing to fight.
Just because the leaders of the countries back Bush’s bullshit war, doesn’t mean the people of those countries back his lies.
So, the Coalition of the willing started with 49 countries, but now there are only 28. That means 21 countries have backed out, due to the unpopular nature of the illegal war.
And the countries that are there are “mostly in relatively small contingents.”
The Coalition of the WIlling arguement has been officially ripped to shreds.
You are the weakest link. Goodbye.
May 18th, 2006 at 2:39 pmHey aphraduddy, what stretch of your imagination says this is cherry picked:
LEVIN: Secretary of Defense for Policy, Mr. Feith, established an intelligence analysis, so within his policy office at the Defense Department. While the intelligence community was consistently dubious about links between Iraq and al Qaeda, Mr. Feith produced an alternative analysis asserting that there was a strong connection. Were you comfortable with Mr. Feith’s office approach to intelligence analysis?
HAYDEN: No, sir, I wasn’t. I wasn’t aware of a lot of the activity going on, you know, when it was contemporaneous with running up to the war. No, sir, I wasn’t comfortable.
No sir, I wasn’t. 4 words that accurately answer the question. No cherry picking involved.
May 18th, 2006 at 2:40 pm#10 Forgive me if I am not comforted by knowing that Palau and the Marshall Islands can one day come to the rescue.
May 18th, 2006 at 2:40 pmWhat was even better was when Ron Wyden (D-OR) ripping into Hayden after corduely greeting him and his wife.
How about some of those quotes TP?
May 18th, 2006 at 2:48 pm#26 – “Smae thing we recognize about you. How is da furor these days. Is he as nervous as he appears?” – SpongeBOB
*****Howard Dean said to tell you he is fine and “not nervous one bit”. (He would have been able to spin Bush’s speech a bit tighter – (he had received advance notice of Bushs immigration reform program) and figured progs were too “spellbound” to pick up any of the “Herr Doctors” lies.
Dear “I don’t think” – Could cherry picking be the inclusion ONLY of a perspective that supports prog bias???? What do you THINK???? Oh, that’s right….
May 18th, 2006 at 2:49 pmMA – I am hoping it’s the new drugs affecting you because you are beginning to sound like SANTO……or maybe you are?
May 18th, 2006 at 2:52 pmThat is the best you can do Might Dumbshit? Ramble on about somebody who is not in charge of the country. Well, at least you didn’t play the tired old Clinton card. Yawn, you are boring.
May 18th, 2006 at 2:55 pmmighty SANTOdite – What?
May 18th, 2006 at 3:04 pmIf I remember right der furher was the idiot that started the optional wars of aggression, and Howard Dean does not fit that profile, but somebody else does…an insecure c+ student that couldn’t hack it in the real world and his daddy’s friends had to keep bailing him out. Some jerk after Daddy got him appointed as an officer in a non deployable NGAF unit couldn’t even furfill the one weekend a month because the AF started testing for illicit drugs…you know the villege idiot from Texas…..bubble boy. the idiuiot in chief…………..non-curious george, the president appointed by the supreme court………
May 18th, 2006 at 3:06 pmSponge – the “best” insult you can throw is 5 years old re-tread Nazi joke??? BORING and PITIFUL….BUT (!!!) not surprising….
Clif – Herr Dr. Dean is as proficient a liar as Goebbels and as convenient with his rendition of the truth as Stalin. (Does that qualify as a “fence sitter” in the prog world?) Couple that with the Dean Scream….and you’ve got a match made in heaven.
Back on thread – Who said, “It’s impossible to have civil liberties when you’re dead.”
May 18th, 2006 at 3:25 pmHINT: It wasn’t a Dem or prog…..
Yeah. I’d like to see exactly what the Estonia and Latvian intelligence agencies had on Saddam. I’m sure they knew far more than we did.
I’m going to go out on alimb and say we showed them the intelligence we wanted them to see and not the whole picture. Even if we did show it all to them, wild guess, they might have hitched their cart to our horse rather than Saddam’s.
Most of them could see the writing on the wall. That whole, you’re with us or against us thing we like to do so much.
May 18th, 2006 at 3:31 pmMA: Who said, “Give me liberty or give me death?”
May 18th, 2006 at 3:33 pmMA – HerrRummy…Cheney…Bush…Rice is as proficient a liar as Goebbels and as convenient with his rendition of the truth as Stalin. (Does that qualify as a “fence sitter†in the idiot world?) Couple that with the Bush photo ops which are just for show but no substance….and you’ve got a match made in heaven.
May 18th, 2006 at 3:44 pmYa’ll the plan is to ignore Mighty Santodite (love it :) into polite contribution.
Until he can play nice, he’s just background buzz…
May 18th, 2006 at 3:48 pmGood one Clif – way to turn it back on her!!!
To piggyback on to MLDB’s great comeback, who said “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety?”
May 18th, 2006 at 3:51 pmcompare this fellow and the way he talks to Wes Clark, what an amazing difference. One is clearly a weasel waiting to eat, the other is forthright and open about both facts and feelings.
I vote no, but I don’t get money from oil companies to do their bidding
May 18th, 2006 at 4:14 pm#39 – Patrick Henry – Your TURn….
May 18th, 2006 at 4:28 pmand (42) Benjamin Franklin – both WELL known 20th-21st Century politicians and communications experts…..HMMMMMMmmmmmmm
Yes, now the trolls are taking shots at the people who made this country great.
May 18th, 2006 at 4:50 pmAnd don’t even get their facts or history straight…typical idiot neo-con
May 18th, 2006 at 5:00 pmAs usual, SpomgeBOB, you’re wrong. I take no “shots at the people” who made this great republic. (Isn’t the faction in the “idiot-cation” lobby who denigrate the Founders as “evil, white, wealthy racists” – never mind the custom of the day – from your side of the aisle?? )
I am simply pointing out to you (and others of your ilk) that our Founders faced the world’s greatest Empire of the day without the sophistication of contemporary threats, technology and weapons. I apologize for giving you tooooo much credit.
May 18th, 2006 at 5:10 pmI am simply pointing out to you (and others of your ilk) that our Founders faced the world’s greatest Empire of the day without the sophistication of contemporary threats, technology and weapons.
Sounds like the insurgency in oh ….say….Iraq doesn’t it mighty stupid
May 18th, 2006 at 5:16 pmClif -You are an EXCELLENT example of some people who CANNOT argue – they are too stupid or too poorly educated. (Your “input” did not refute my premise.) Keep making all the “left turns” you want in your tangental non-argument. You’re heading for a REAL cliff.
May 18th, 2006 at 5:42 pmNo it is not moron.
And they also got multilateral help from other countries, like France.
May 18th, 2006 at 5:44 pmI seem to remember the Clinton administration telling us about the Iraq-Al Qaeda connection. Oh yes, it goes like this…
Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering, August 25 1998 on the al Shifa-al Qaeda-Iraq connection:
Q: Ambassador Pickering, do you know of any connection between the so-called pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum and the Iraqi government in regard to production of precursors of VX?
PICKERING: Yeah, I would like to consult my notes just to be sure that what I have to say is stated clearly and correctly. We see evidence that we think is quite clear on contacts between Sudan and Iraq. In fact, al Shifa officials, early in the company’s history, we believe were in touch with Iraqi individuals associated with Iraq’s VX program.
And another…
Ambassador Bill Richardson, in an appearance on CNN’s “Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer,†on August 30, 1998.
“We know for a fact, physical evidence, soil samples of VX precursor–chemical precursor at the site,†said Richardson. “Secondly, Wolf, direct evidence of ties between Osama bin Laden and the Military Industrial Corporation–the al Shifa factory was part of that. This is an operation–a collection of buildings that does a lot of this dirty munitions stuff. And, thirdly, there is no evidence that this precursor has a commercial application. So, you combine that with Sudan support for terrorism, their connections with Iraq on VX, and you combine that, also, with the chemical precursor issue, and Sudan’s leadership support for Osama bin Laden, and you’ve got a pretty clear cut case.â€
And another…
Richard Clarke writes in his book, Against All Enemies: Inside America’s War on Terror about the Iraqi VX found at al Shifa by the CIA:
EMPTA is a compound that had been used as a prime ingredient in Iraqi nerve gas. It had no other known use, nor had any other nation employed EMPTA to our knowledge for any purpose.
May 18th, 2006 at 5:48 pm#39 – Patrick Henry – Your TURn….
and (42) Benjamin Franklin – both WELL known 20th-21st Century politicians and communications experts…..HMMMMMMmmmmmmm
MA – you seem to saying that Patrick Henry and Ben Franklin are irrelevant to today’s discussion on liberties and privacy? Is that it? Help me understand what you are saying, and remind me not to ask you to defend me if I ever get hauled up in San Diego – I need a communicator, someone who can make a point.
May 18th, 2006 at 5:52 pmI was not arguing the fact that REAL heros of 1776 stood up themselves went into the danger zone bodily and fought for their freedoms…unlike george I don’t wanna fly i wanna get high, or dick I got better things to do cheney, or rush my a$$ hurts oxycodon addict does, but the comparison of the iraqi’s fighting to get us out of Iraq is very comparible to the revolutionaries fighting to get the british out of the US
May 18th, 2006 at 5:54 pm#53, beg to differ Clif, the 1776 colonists thought of themselves (mostly) as British to begin with, hard to say that about the Iraqis. Also the British soldiers were already there at the start (from the Seven Years War) – they didn’t come in guns blazing and start the whole thing…. Iraq looks more like France 1940-1945 (puppet government, razing the odd city now and again and all) than 1776. Just my straw man, feel free to knock it down.
May 18th, 2006 at 6:00 pmTerry we have been in parts of Iraq since 1991, and bombed then weekly since 91, so the insurgents probably feel that they are throwing out an occupying force that has been attacking Iraq since the first gulf war
May 18th, 2006 at 6:06 pmA little humor to illuminate the subject
Tom Tomorrow
Mark Fiore
May 18th, 2006 at 6:07 pmClif, I’m still trying to work out what MA’s premise was – hence my conclusion from the incoherent post about henry and Franklin that presumably he/she/it thinks that its better to have no liberties and alive than have civil liberties and be dead. Which seems to fly in the face of the two excellent grabs from Henry and Franklin, who as participants in the drafting of the Constitution (and from there the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure), might (since the aforementioned Constitution may still be in effect in America) carry a bit more weight than someone who wishes for a totalitarian state with restricted liberty. Since a totalitarian state with restricted libertities, by example was the Soviet Union, if I don’t miss my guess MA’s premise is the equivalent of the ‘better Red than dead’ that was popular in European communist circles in the 1960s, 70s and 80s to me.
Are you a communist MA? Is that what you meant?
May 18th, 2006 at 6:31 pm#52 – Terry – Don’t worry, Turtle, I ONLY take cases I believe in – either on an evidentiary basis or constitutional issues – and that ain’t you.
YOUR “argument” is about another topic all together – your INFERENCES.
I did NOT say Patrick Henry or Benjamin Franklin were “irrelevant to today’s discussion on liberties and privacy?” I did note they lived in times in which one could not possibly have ANTICIPATED the enemy we fight today.
May 18th, 2006 at 7:04 pmClif – We’ve been bombing Iraq weekly since ‘91? Not according to anyone who knows anything….that ain’t you, either….sorry….
May 18th, 2006 at 7:08 pmA lawyer that says “ain’t”? I ain’t buyin’ it.
May 18th, 2006 at 7:41 pmI did NOT say Patrick Henry or Benjamin Franklin were “irrelevant to today’s discussion on liberties and privacy?†I did note they lived in times in which one could not possibly have ANTICIPATED the enemy we fight today.
Comment by mighty aphrodite — May 18, 2006 @ 7:04 pm
No MA you wriote this blithering illogical rant
#39 – Patrick Henry – Your TURn….
and (42) Benjamin Franklin – both WELL known 20th-21st Century politicians and communications experts…..HMMMMMMmmmmmmm
Comment by mighty aphrodite — May 18, 2006 @ 4:28 pm
not the coherant thoughts of a jurist but typical for a wanna be somebody…
May 18th, 2006 at 7:55 pmSponge (the literalist) notes: “A lawyer that says “ain’tâ€? I ain’t buyin’ it.”
May 18th, 2006 at 7:57 pm*****THAT’S good news!! Should you ever get arrested in beautiful San Diego, I won’t have to concern myself declining to represent you. I hear enough “wrong place / wrong time stories”. My “bu//$h*t detector is great – but I’m positve you and ‘Scooper could find a zealous PD to represent you….. Whew!!!!
Clif – your ignorance demanded clarification. (Clever people will note that both passages relay similar information – but one passage is more specific for folks like you.) You’re welcome….
May 18th, 2006 at 8:02 pmAll of these “insights” from Cliff who wants to be anybody….who knew??
My “bu//$h*t is great
Comment by mighty aphrodite — May 18, 2006 @ 7:57 pm
We know you think so thank you for confirming the rants are really bu//$h*t
May 18th, 2006 at 8:03 pmClif – To read the confusing word “detector”, you may wish to enlist one of the numerous NEA menbers here for a bit of phonics tutelage – and if all the teacher stories of late frighten you – try “Hooked on Phonics”. You’re tooo pitiful…
May 18th, 2006 at 8:19 pmClif – Mr. Aphrodite provided a logical answer to your poor reading skills – he noted that you sound very ADD – just like OUR President – (you must be so proud!!)
May 18th, 2006 at 8:22 pmPoor poor mighty fake lawyer can’t take a joke any better than the country can take the joke we got stuck with for a pResident….
May 18th, 2006 at 8:24 pmMr. Aphrodite
Comment by mighty aphrodite — May 18, 2006 @ 8:22 pm
Look MA with out the fake drag costume (s)he wants us to believe in…bahhahahahah
May 18th, 2006 at 8:31 pmMA: To hear you (and Pat Roberts, et al) say it, Al-Qaeda is in charge of our country. I thought we were in charge of our own destiny.
May 18th, 2006 at 8:36 pmCampaign for progressive legislation forum http://tinyurl.com/lyqwm
May 18th, 2006 at 9:27 pmFly zippers and hypocrisy. This from Wayne Madsen reports:
May 18, 2006 — General Hayden’s military conduct not brought up in his confirmation hearings for CIA Director. Gen. Michael Hayden’s confirmation hearing today before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is the second confirmation hearing where his personal conduct as NSA Director has not been addressed, the first being his confirmation hearing to be Deputy Director of National Intelligence. According to a former Air Force officer who worked for the NSA, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and CIA, Hayden was officially reported in 2001 to two Air Force Inspectors General for having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate female officer. According to the former Air Force intelligence officer, the alleged affair, which the Uniform Code of Military Justice and Air Force regulations would deem as “conduct unbecoming an officer,” took place in 2001 at NSA’s signals intelligence directorate in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina while Hayden was on a visit to the center. At the time, Hayden was NSA Director. According to the former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, two complaints were filed against Hayden with Col. James Worth of the U.S. Air Force Inspector General’s office and Col. Dennis Lange of the 8th Air Force Inspector General’s office. No action against Hayden was taken by either IG and the matter was quickly dropped. Last year, Army Gen. Kevin Byrnes, the four-star commander of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), was relieved of command for allegedly having an affair with a civilian woman. Byrnes was legally separated from his wife at the time. In reality, Byrnes was fired for disagreeing with the neocon clique of Donald Rumsfeld. Byrnes was charged with having an “inappropriate relationship” by the Pentagon. In 1997, Air Force General Joseph Ralston was forced to withdraw his nomination as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after he was charged with having an extramarital affair in the 1980s with a female CIA employee after he was legally separated from his wife. The right-wing were behind the operations against Generals Byrnes and Ralston. The right wingers seem to have a different opinion of misconduct when it comes to someone who is carrying the water for their neo-fascist total surveillance agenda.
May 18th, 2006 at 10:15 pmFly zippers & hypocrisy. This from Wayne Madsen report:
May 18, 2006 — General Hayden’s military conduct not brought up in his confirmation hearings for CIA Director. Gen. Michael Hayden’s confirmation hearing today before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence is the second confirmation hearing where his personal conduct as NSA Director has not been addressed, the first being his confirmation hearing to be Deputy Director of National Intelligence. According to a former Air Force officer who worked for the NSA, the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), and CIA, Hayden was officially reported in 2001 to two Air Force Inspectors General for having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate female officer. According to the former Air Force intelligence officer, the alleged affair, which the Uniform Code of Military Justice and Air Force regulations would deem as “conduct unbecoming an officer,” took place in 2001 at NSA’s signals intelligence directorate in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina while Hayden was on a visit to the center. At the time, Hayden was NSA Director. According to the former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer, two complaints were filed against Hayden with Col. James Worth of the U.S. Air Force Inspector General’s office and Col. Dennis Lange of the 8th Air Force Inspector General’s office. No action against Hayden was taken by either IG and the matter was quickly dropped. Last year, Army Gen. Kevin Byrnes, the four-star commander of the Army’s Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), was relieved of command for allegedly having an affair with a civilian woman. Byrnes was legally separated from his wife at the time. In reality, Byrnes was fired for disagreeing with the neocon clique of Donald Rumsfeld. Byrnes was charged with having an “inappropriate relationship” by the Pentagon. In 1997, Air Force General Joseph Ralston was forced to withdraw his nomination as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff after he was charged with having an extramarital affair in the 1980s with a female CIA employee after he was legally separated from his wife. The right-wing were behind the operations against Generals Byrnes and Ralston. The right wingers seem to have a different opinion of misconduct when it comes to someone who is carrying the water for their neo-fascist total surveillance agenda.
May 18th, 2006 at 10:45 pm#58.
“I did NOT say Patrick Henry or Benjamin Franklin were “irrelevant to today’s discussion on liberties and privacy?†I did note they lived in times in which one could not possibly have ANTICIPATED the enemy we fight today. ” That’s total bullshit and you know it – when you read the DOI you know you are dealing with revolutionary thinking and with visionaries. And they fought the first successful guerilla war against a modern world power in history.
But thanks, at last a coherent statement. I knew you had one in you.
So if I get this right, you are saying Ben Franklin and and Patrick Henry could not possibly comprehend the threat to the republic, the constitution or liberty by religious fanatics – so their choice to choose death over liberty is anachronistic (big word – look it up if you need to)?
Let’s start with the Founding Fathers understanding of religious fanatacism and the threat it posed to the Republic:
On the Jefferson Memorial we find: “”I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every from of tyranny over the mind of man.” – no love for a fanatic there.
“History, I believe, furnishes no example of a priest-ridden people maintaining a free civil government. This marks the lowest grade of ignorance of which their civil as well as religious leaders will always avail themselves for their own purposes.” Jefferson – 1813
“In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection to his own” Jefferson – 1814
Well the dude who wrote the Constitution seems to know what to do with religious fanatics and what they mean. I would put the current situation in his hands frankly.
“”If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”
-James Madison, fourth US president (1751-1836)
Yup there’s Madison too.
“That which we obtain too easily, we esteem too lightly. ” – liberty is easy to give up if you were lucky to be born to a country that has won it already.
Thomas Paine
So they seem to agree – religion and foreign wars are a direct threat to the liberties enshrined in the Constitution and furthermore, the struggles against foreigners are most likely to lead to totalitarianism at home. Now remember, the US has fought two major wars against totalitarianism in the last century.
And yet you argue that eroding personal freedoms, circumventing the Constitution and putting the executive about accountability (because that’s what you are doing when you argue for ‘no point having civil liberties if you are dead’ as you argue in post #37). ‘Trust the president’ that’s what you are saying. Well you may as well celebrate your new monarchy and then wipe your ass on the Constitution, because you have no further use for it – and guess what, the religious fanatics just won.
Patrick Henry knew what he was saying. You just don’t have the guts to follow his example.
May 18th, 2006 at 11:46 pmPatrick Henry knew what he was saying. You just don’t have the guts to follow his example.
Comment by TerrytheTurtle — May 18, 2006 @ 11:46 pm
Or also in MA’s case the brains as (s)he has so ably demonstraited so many times….
May 19th, 2006 at 12:00 am[...] HAYDEN: No, sir, I wasn’t. I wasn’t aware of a lot of the activity going on, you know, when it was contemporaneous with running up to the war. No, sir, I wasn’t comfortable. Hayden: ‘I Wasn’t Comfortable’ With Administration’s Approach To Iraq Intelligence [...]
May 19th, 2006 at 12:05 amCampaign for progressive legislation http://www.zazzle.com/maximus7
May 19th, 2006 at 2:23 amSeems dumbya isn’t content with bombs going off in frogs or cats (his childhood hobby) any longer, so he is hell-bent on having a middle-east turf war here in the USA with Mexico. All the while spying on his “enemies” and Al-QUAKER. His lying eyes can’t conceal the real truth, he is indeed the Anti-Christ.
If you believe otherwise, you better get right with God (or the GOP)
May 19th, 2006 at 2:59 am…
May 19th, 2006 at 3:45 am….For they are the spirits of devils,
working miracles,which go forth unto
the kings of the earth and of the
whole world, to gather them to the
battle of that great day of God Almighty.
…
The telling comment made by Gen. Hayden in his answer to Sen. Levin.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/18/AR2006051800823.html?nav=rss_nation/nationalsecurity
“Now, with regard to this particular case, it is possible, Senator, if you want to drill down on an issue and just get laser beam focused, and exhaust every possible — every possible ounce of evidence, you can build up a pretty strong body of data, right? But you have to know what you’re doing, all right?
I got three great kids, but if you tell me go out and find all the bad things they’ve done, Hayden, I can build you a pretty good dossier, and you’d think they were pretty bad people, because that was I was looking for and that’s what I’d build up.
“That would be very wrong. That would be inaccurate. That would be misleading.”
He accuses the Pentagon of setting up this office to be purposely misleading.
May 19th, 2006 at 7:52 amThe Hayden half-grilling…
The Democrats on the intelligence committee try to grill General Michael Hayden during the long-awaited CIA nomination hearings (who declines to answer most questions about his domestic spying notions in the open session), while the Republicans simpl…..
May 19th, 2006 at 9:17 amDear Turtle -It IS very comforting to watch you (and a few of your co-horts) trot out the Founding Fathers!! Our deist founders knew how divisive religious stratification could be BUT they wanted to ensure that religion could be practiced. Noting a nation at war, these were also the group of men who would have hung the Gitmo bunch as was the custom of the day – forgetting that dead prisoners yield little info.
When Lincoln suspended Habeus Corpus on April 27, 1862, there was a hue and cry. BUT we recovered from this suspension. After all, we’ve heard those “old, dead white guys” bashed from college campuses (Armando Navarro to Howard Zinn’s Marxist take on the exploitation of the America’s) to anarchist / prog denunciations of ANYTHING American.
Maybe in your circles, “turtle breath” can be a bit of fresh air.
May 19th, 2006 at 2:08 pmPay no attention to the trolls, they are perhaps some of the paid stooges in the government out to try and justify all the illegal, immoral, criminal things this so called administration is doing.
If they aren’t paid stooges, they are just terribly stupid and believe anything that criminals tell them.
Either way, trolls are so tragic.
May 19th, 2006 at 2:32 pm#81 MA – bullshit – the prisoners in the Revolutionary War on the US side were well treated by Washington’s army and not hung and certainly not without trial for spying – stop rewriting history or lying about it. Lincoln put his suspension to Habeas Corpus to Congress who passed it into law – I don’t see the Chimp or his Organ Grinder doing that – they have chosen to IGNORE the law.
And your dates are wrong – it was 27 April 1861 the first time, then rescinded on Feb 14th 1862 and then again on Sep 24th 1862, finally becoming law on March 3rd 1863. Get your facts right MA.
May 19th, 2006 at 4:53 pmTerry – THE-Self Proclaimed- Perfect-Turtle – Gosh I’m GLAD you have never made a typo – the earth could fly off its’ axix!!!. To YOUR “point” (I’m trying not to laugh to uproariously…) The truth about the Revolutionary War was that many prisoners of war were treated fairly decently – colonial troops were at times stretching rations. Others were not. Escapees were hung, as were spies. Conditions were variable whether troops were comprised of civilian militia or Continetal Army. But, of COURSE you knew THAT…
To MY point, before you hijacked it – the left conveniently forgets the Founding Fathers unless they are busy bolstering their “I-hate-God-in-Public” argument by quoting Jefferson in which he MENTIONS the phrase “separation of church and state”. Most of the time, INGRATE progs are busy bashing the hypocrisy, selfishness, wealth, landed gentry status, etc. of the Founders. The basis of enlightened thinking and the Founders philosophy was the FREEDOM OF MAN – not a hammock for lazy men which progs wish to provide – and thus control. Remember, gentle Prog, progressivism/ socialism/ communism ARE not about sympathy, egalitarianism and/or kindness – those philosphies are hungry for power.
May 19th, 2006 at 7:16 pmNotice teh contrast: His two points do not jive: How can someone be “uncomfortable” with something that — at the same time — he wants us to believe “he dien’t know about”. That makes no sense. In oder to be “uncomfortable” you have to know something; if you’re “in the dark” as he would have us believe, then there would be no basis to be uncomforttable — unless he’s really trying to say, “Despite knowing the falsehoods, I didn’t do anything.”
I think this is a false statement: “I wasn’t aware of a lot of the activity going on, you know, when it was contemporaneous with running up to the war. No, sir, I wasn’t comfortable”
May 19th, 2006 at 9:04 pmWhen did dumbya decide to have his speech writers cut and paste Hayden’s name over Goss’? (see Jon Stewart’s piece on this it is pretty much priceless) Same lame speech, I wonder if perhaps it is difficult to teach an old chimp new speeches.
Goss and this so called administration knew what they were doing was illegal, and that didn’t matter one bit to them. They knew they were stepping over the line of ethics by this spying/torture…. and the list grows daily. They knew the FISA courts wouldn’t stand for their antics and grant warrants, so what do you do when you won’t follow the law, BREAK IT, and DENY, DENY, LIE, DENY AND LIE SOME MORE.
Dumbya’s M.O. It is called the Lie/Deny/control method of politics.
Off topic, ever notice that Hayden looks very much like Col. Klink?
May 20th, 2006 at 9:25 pmActually he looks more like the love child of Frank Burns and Col. Klink.
May 20th, 2006 at 9:26 pm[...] 1) To rebut the “myth†that “The president misled Americans to convince them to go to war,†Wehner claims, “Important assumptions turned out wrong; but mistakenly relying on faulty intelligence is a world apart from lying about it.†FACT: Administration Created Stovepipes To Feed Politicized Intelligence. In his nomination hearing last week, Gen. Michael Hayden admitted that he “wasn’t comfortable†with the administration’s approach to Iraq intelligence. Hayden’s comments reveal that intelligence experts like himself were sidelined in the run-up to the war while political leaders like Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, and Doug Feith set up intelligence stovepipes to “get the information they wanted directly to the top leadership.†FACT: Administration Had Its Sights Set on War Regardless of Intelligence. Despite Bush’s insistence that he didn’t want war, there is overwhelming evidence he made up his mind to go to war well before the intelligence community rendered its judgments. [...]
May 23rd, 2006 at 1:27 pm