Wednesday, July 29, 2009

4th Op-Ed

Warrantless Criticism
Michael Hayden director of the C.I.A

In this article Mr. Hayden comments about the various criticism that the National Security Agency and specifically the Surveillance Program has gotten. He argues that the program was effective, lawful and necessary. The first concern he addresses is that the many levels of the program hurt its effectiveness. Because of the many levels of classification, what information professionals call “connecting the dots” did not happen during the 9/11 attack. Hayden agrees that this can be an issue, but it is completely necessary to insure the safety of the country. The next claim he tackles is that Congress was not aware of the full capability of such a program. Hayden says that actually, Congress could not use the program to its full extent because of the restriction placed on the program by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. When he briefed Congress in 2001 through 2005, he continuously made the point that the CIA could not fully act under these restrictions. The next topic he deals with (and most likely the most discussed) is the lawfulness of this program. In response he first says that agency lawyers assisted in the review of the program. Lastly, Hayden addresses the people that believe that their personal lives are being invaded by this program. He assures these people that any wiretapping done is done with Congress in the loop. Also, he mentions that in a recent review the reviewer noted that the program has had: “No evidence of intentional misuse”. In his final words he stresses that he tells his men that since this is a sensitive issue, they must do exactly what the President says and nothing more.
Michael Hayden writes in a very direct manor. He essentially is writing a 5 paragraph essay. He has an introduction, he proves that the program is effective, necessary, and lawful and finishes off with the conclusion. It seems that he somewhat aggravated with all of these claims and is now happy to clear up all confusion. He writes a manor to quickly address the concerns and answer all complaints that he has heard. As the head of the CIA, I think he might know something about what he is talking about. It is good that someone as high up as him can talk to a large amount of people to clear up their concerns.

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