Don't scuttle intelligence gains
The Pelosi Democrats in Congress spent the last two years railing against the national security policies of George W. Bush, symbolized by expanded wiretapping, stressful interrogations, the Guantanamo prison and, of course, Iraq. Now they are unwisely trying to push President-elect Barack Obama into decisions that have less to do with prudent courses of action than with signaling victory over those symbols.
The Washington Post reports, for instance, that senior congressional Democrats have decided the nation's top two intelligence officers must be replaced right away because they have publicly defended the intelligence value of the Bush administration programs for stressful interrogations and expanded surveillance powers.
The two officials are retired Adm. Mike McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence, and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, director of the CIA. Both were career military officers before being nominated by President Bush and confirmed in their current jobs by the Senate. Both have been credited with restoring discipline, professionalism, focus and credibility to a community of intelligence officers that had been battered by accusations of incompetence and politicized reporting. Those shortcomings included a failure to "connect the dots" prior to 9/11 and the "slam dunk" assertion that Saddam Hussein was harboring weapons of mass destruction.
Despite this record, Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., told Congressional Quarterly last week, "My view is that it's time for a new start."
Her views were echoed by Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., who said, "I am confident President-elect Obama understands the need for new leadership of the intelligence community."
But as CIA Chief Hayden said last week, al-Qaida remains a potent threat: "If there is a major strike on this country, it will bear the fingerprints of al-Qaida. This war — and no one should mistake it as anything else — is far from over."
The president-elect must take the utmost care in changing the rules of engagement in a war in which intelligence tools are critical. There should be no return to the Clinton era's rigid rules that discouraged intelligence officials from intercepting communications among suspected terrorists.
Above all, the incoming commander in chief should not rush into changing the leadership of the intelligence agencies just because some Pelosi Democrats are demanding trophy heads. He must be not be trapped into mistaking political symbols for reality.
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