President Bush has nominated U.S. Air Force General Michael V. Hayden as the next director of the C.I.A.
Mostly democratic critics have questioned the wisdom of putting a military officer in charge of the civilian spy agency. Hayden is a military man who understands the workings of the military and the intelligence community. This knowledge & experience might come in handy by making a more efficient union between military and bureacratic operations.
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He understands both sides of the equation.
Golly.
We can't be having that, now can we.
This is not the first time a military man has taken charge of the 'civilian' C.I.A.
Admiral Stansfield Turner was appointed head of CIA on 8 February 1977 by President Jimmy Carter; confirmed by a Democrat-majority Senate without dissent on 24 February 1977 and sworn in on 9 March 1977. Like Mr. Carter, Admiral Turner's performance in office was less than stellar.