In his first day of testimony (is that the correct term?) General Michael Hayden appears to be handling his confirmation hearing quite well. His opening statement probably contained the understatement of the century. "Hayden said that intelligence-gathering has become “the football in American political discourse” since the terror attacks of Sept. 11."
The majority of the questions the Senators are asking him so far appear to be about past failures and practices at the CIA. I'm not really sure what asking about past failures has to do with Hayden, but that definitely seems to be the theme. Hayden defended the NSA program as legal, and frankly, it does not sound as if any of the Senators seriously challenged that assertion. But Diane Feinstein sure wanted to know about waterboarding. Yeesh.
Hayden declined to answer a string of questions by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., saying he would answer them later in a closed-door session.
They included whether he believed that “waterboarding,” in which prisoners are strapped to a plank and dunked in water until nearly drowning, was an acceptable form of interrogation. He also declined to say publicly how long he believed the United States could hold terror suspects without a trial.
“He didn’t answer any of them,” Feinstein said into an open mike as the hearing recessed for lunch.
Well, at least Feinstein can discern the obvious when prompted.
