NATIONAL SECURITY 101
NEW YORK POST
Editorial
May 18, 2006
Hearings begin today into the nomination of Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden as director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
This confirmation process must not bog down, because Hayden is committed to whipping the agency into some semblance of functionality - and fundamental reform of the CIA is vital if America is to successfully wage the War on Terror.
The extent to which the CIA is resisting reform - that is, resisting Hayden's appointment - became clear last week when USA Today was re-leaked a three-month-old New York Times report regarding NSA telephone-data collection.
Whereupon the usual suspects - the Times, The Washington Post, Time, Newsweek and just about every Democrat in the nation's capital - drew a bead on Hayden.
The nominee served as NSA director when two phone-surveillance programs were authorized in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. One involved tracking terrorists by monitoring certain U.S.-international telephone conversations; the other, the creation of a telephone databank that can help establish patterns of terrorist activity in the United States.
Only a moron would object to such precautions - and a malign moron, at that.
Sadly, Washington doesn't lack for morons - so Hayden's role in developing these programs is going to be a major issue in his confirmation process.
But let's be clear on one thing: There is no evidence that anybody's rights have been violated by either program.
None whatsoever.
And there is every reason to believe - albeit inferentially - that the NSA and military intelligence-gathering efforts are paying substantial dividends.
Since 9/11, the terrorists' butcher's bill has been horrific.
Consider:
* The October 2002 bombing of a Bali nightclub took 202 lives and injured 209.
* The October 2002 attack by Chechen separatists on a Moscow theater resulted in the deaths of 130 hostages.
* The March 2004 bombing of the Madrid rail system killed 192 people and wounded 2,050.
* The September 2004 Chechnyan siege of a Beslan school ended with 344 people dead (186 children) and 700 injured.
* The July 2005 bombings of London trains and a bus killed 56 people and wounded another 700.
* Ongoing suicide and car bombings in Iraq have killed thousands of innocent civilians.
But notably not on that list is an attack within the United States.
This absence has several causes - and not one of them is because the terrorists have suddenly forgotten about America or have given up trying to inflict various levels of harm on these shores.
One reason is that George W. Bush decided to take the war to the enemy rather than wait for the enemy to strike again on American soil.
Another, just as significant, is because the above-mentioned intelligence agencies have pulled out all the stops to prevent another 9/11.
The NSA initiatives are a huge part of that effort - and its success, knock on wood, speaks for itself.
Clearly, the American people understand and appreciate this.
Why else would recent polls have the public strongly supporting the NSA program - even as the president's personal popularity continues to slide?
If anything, Americans want even more aggressive anti-terrorism efforts; the best way to achieve that goal is to reform the "intelligence-gathering agency" that blew 9/11 and the Iraqi weapons projections - that is, the CIA.
Which returns us to today's Hayden hearings.
As they unfold, pay close attention to those who oppose the nomination, and to those who support it.
To those who oppose a vigorous anti-terrorist stance, and to those who support keeping America safe.
This nomination is a no-brainer.
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