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Ex-CIA chief Hayden to declassification post: skeptics
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Michael Hayden / Stephen Lee
Former CIA and NSA Director Michael Hayden has been appointed to the Public Interest Declassification Board, reported Steven Aftergood yesterday on the Federation of American Scientists' Secrecy News blog. Hayden's appointment has been met with skepticism due to his roles in controversial intelligence program, including torture and detention operations while serving at CIA and domestic eavesdropping and data mining operations against US citizens while serving at NSA.
Aftergood acknowledged that Hayden has uttered that the intelligence community over-classifies material (for example, during his CIA Director confirmation hearing in 2006), and suggested that an insider like Hayden could offer expert insight into the culture of secrecy.
But Aftergood and others also question the appointment.
Jameel Jaffer of the American Civil Liberties Union criticized the appointment, telling the Washington Post today, "To this day, the NSA continues to conceal virtually all information about the warrantless wiretapping program. As CIA director, General Hayden claimed that destruction of waterboarding tapes was 'in line with the law.'"
"General Hayden is not well known as a classification critic or a proponent of declassification," wrote Aftergood. "As NSA and CIA Director he was integral to the practice of classification in its latest and most decadent phase." After he left CIA, Hayden maintained a hard line against declassification, particularly of Bush administration counterterrorism programs. For example, Hayden publicly opposed the release of Bush administration legal memos that authorized the use of torture and extrajudicial detention.
According to the Post, Obama national security adviser Jim Jones is set to overhaul security classification policy, with the PIDB playing an elevated role.
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