Post by dgriffin on Apr 19, 2009 16:16:48 GMT -5
CNN
Ex-CIA chief: Obama risks national security
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former head of the CIA slammed President Obama on Sunday for releasing four Bush-era memos, saying the new president has compromised national security.
Former CIA chief Michael Hayden said Sunday it is wrong to make interrogation methods public.
Former CIA chief Michael Hayden said Sunday it is wrong to make interrogation methods public.
Michael Hayden, who served as former President Bush's last CIA director from 2006 to 2009, said releasing the memos outlining terror interrogation methods emboldened terrorist groups such as al Qaeda.
"What we have described for our enemies in the midst of a war are the outer limits that any American would ever go to in terms of interrogating an al Qaeda terrorist. That's very valuable information," Hayden said during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."
"The basic foundation of the legitimacy of the agency's action has shifted from some durability of law to a product of the American political process. That puts agency officers in a horrible position," he said.
"The really dangerous effect of this [decision] is that you'll have agency officers stepping back from the kinds of things that the nation expects them to do. ... You're going to have this agency -- on the front line of defending you in this current war -- playing back from the line."
www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/19/cia.torture.chief/
Ex-CIA chief: Obama risks national security
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A former head of the CIA slammed President Obama on Sunday for releasing four Bush-era memos, saying the new president has compromised national security.
Former CIA chief Michael Hayden said Sunday it is wrong to make interrogation methods public.
Former CIA chief Michael Hayden said Sunday it is wrong to make interrogation methods public.
Michael Hayden, who served as former President Bush's last CIA director from 2006 to 2009, said releasing the memos outlining terror interrogation methods emboldened terrorist groups such as al Qaeda.
"What we have described for our enemies in the midst of a war are the outer limits that any American would ever go to in terms of interrogating an al Qaeda terrorist. That's very valuable information," Hayden said during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."
"The basic foundation of the legitimacy of the agency's action has shifted from some durability of law to a product of the American political process. That puts agency officers in a horrible position," he said.
"The really dangerous effect of this [decision] is that you'll have agency officers stepping back from the kinds of things that the nation expects them to do. ... You're going to have this agency -- on the front line of defending you in this current war -- playing back from the line."
www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/19/cia.torture.chief/