Bush-era official's appointment to declassification panel draws fire

http://theglobalreport.org/?section=news&news_section=1#War%20spending%20up%2017%25%20and%20no%20Guantanamo%20closure

Bush-era official's appointment to declassification panel draws fire

By Ellen Nakashima

Sep. 11- The newest member of a panel that advises the president on declassification policy is a former top intelligence official who oversaw some of the Bush administration's most controversial counterterrorism programs.

Michael V. Hayden, a retired four-star Air Force general, was appointed to the Public Interest Declassification Board by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) during the August recess.

"The country is fortunate that Gen. Michael Hayden has agreed to serve as a member," McConnell said in an e-mail. "His long history of service as an intelligence professional makes him ideally suited for balancing the interests of secrecy and disclosure in protecting our national security."

But Hayden's role overseeing the Bush administration's warrantless domestic surveillance program as director of the National Security Agency and his defense of several contentious CIA programs and actions, including the "rendering" of terrorism suspects to third countries for detention in secret prisons and the destruction of videotapes that recorded the interrogation of al-Qaeda suspects, have led to criticism of the appointment.

:eyes:

How can we have change when the Bush yes-men are put back in control?

nt

:nuke:

:shrug: I guess people will blame him for it anyway..

Michael V. Hayden, a retired four-star Air Force general, was appointed to the Public Interest Declassification Board by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) during the August recess.