Government

Bush Picks New Chief Nominee, Will He Get Support?

May 9, 2006 ⋅  E-Mail Article ⋅  Print Article ⋅ Post a comment

Two heads may be better than one but do really want three heads who think alike leading America into the next decade? We know President Bush and John Negroponte see eye to eye on almost all issues of security and now there is talk that the President has tapped another like mind in Air Force General Michael Hayden. Is there flavor enough in Washington to see all of the diverse occurrences and happenings or is the Bush Administration tunnel-visioning itself right into failure? Diversity training is a must in most modern organizations and in that training there are lessons to various ways of thinking, should the President and his cabinet be more diversified or should the add more like minds of their own? This is the question Washington will deal with as they try and figure out what to do with the spy agencies top spot.

Porter Goss has stepped down and President Bush already has a crony to jump in and take his place. The problem is that many feel that the handpicked individual President Bush has chosen is too much like the President himself and many say that Air Force General Michael Hayden cannot be unbiased enough when it comes to discussing issues of which him and the President previously have agreed on, most notably the controversial NSA spying program that recently came to light. Both President Bush and General Michael Hayden believe the program is needed desperately and the merits should not be judged by politicians. This issue alone is cause enough for a large Senate uprisings, many Senators vehemently argue that the wiretaps are illegal and the NSA program should end immediately. Conversely, the President and the General believe the program should continue with the possibility of expanding. This and a few other discrepancies are setting up a potential clash with members of Congress who question whether the Generals military status is right for the spy agency.

The General is well liked in the President Bush circle of trust; most notably he has received the confidence of John Negroponte and Stephen Hadley. National security adviser Stephen Hadley has already advised that he feels General Michael Haydens military service should not be an issue he advised, “ The General shouldn’t have to resign his commission … previous CIA chiefs have been military officers…The president actually thinks it’s a strength…He understands the military aspect of the intelligence business, but as I say, he’s also had broad experience and can be an integrator and an agent of reform.”

Many believe the military experience biases the General in a way that would make the spy agency slanted toward militaristic goals and attitudes rather than civil issue. One Congressman who spoke up is United States Representative Pete Hoekstra, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman Hoekstra stated, “This appointment … signals that we are not that concerned about having an independent intelligence community independent of the Department of Defense… civilian government policy makers need to get intelligence in an unvarnished way through a civilian, not through a military, lens.”

Bush Picks New Chief Nominee

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