Defense secretary endorses Hayden nomination to CIA

  • Published
  • By Donna Miles
  • American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  The defense secretary and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said May 9 they endorse President George W. Bush's nomination of Gen. Michael V. Hayden as CIA director.

President Bush nominated General Hayden to the post May 8 to replace Peter Goss.

"In my view, Mike Hayden is a true professional and he'll do an excellent job for the country," said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

"I've known him for about 17 years and he is just a superb officer who is a tremendous professional," said Navy Adm. Edmund Giambastiani, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs. "I first met him when he was a colonel working in the National Security Council back in 1990. And all I would say to you is, I strongly support his professional credentials."

The two leaders cited President Bush's long working relationship with General Hayden, who directed the National Security Agency before becoming deputy to Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte.

"The president knows him and has confidence in him, and clearly I support the nomination," Secretary Rumsfeld said.

The secretary noted General Hayden's extensive experience.

"He did not come up through the operational chain in the Department of Defense, and then at the last minute slide over into the intelligence business," he said. "He's a person who has had assignment after assignment after assignment in the intelligence business, and clearly, that is what his career has been. And he's been very good at it."

Neither Secretary Rumsfeld nor Admiral Giambastiani said they see any conflict in appointing a military person to run the civilian CIA organization. The last officer to do so was Navy Adm. Stansfield Turner, President Jimmy Carter's CIA director. Mr. Negroponte expressed a similar sentiment during a news briefing.

"To those who raise a question about the fact that Mike Hayden ... wears the uniform, and proudly so, of the United States Air Force, I would respond, they should look at the qualifications," Mr. Negroponte said. "And I think they can also be assured that Mike Hayden is a very, very independent-minded person, blunt-spoken, and who I don't think will have any difficulty whatsoever staking out positions that are independent and responsive to the needs of our civilian intelligence community."

In the midst of discussion and debate about General Hayden's nomination, some people have lost sight of the bottom line, Secretary Rumsfeld said.

"One would have thought that rational, ... responsible people would have understood that it's trying to find the formula, the way, the structure, the arrangements so that we can provide the very best intelligence for the American people so they can be protected," he said. "And that's what's central to this."