Bush's CIA pick

There's an old story about a squadron of Iraqi soldiers during the first Gulf War that come upon a lone Israeli soldier in the middle of the desert. The Iraqi commander orders 50 men to pursue the Israeli. They take off and quickly disappear behind a large sand dune. Sounds of battle can be heard, then die down. Eventually the Israeli emerges at the top of the sand dune, brushing off his uniform. He grins at the Iraqi squadron, and motions for them to send more. The commander orders another 100 men to pursue the Israeli, and as they rush forward the Israeli backs down the other side of the dune. More sounds of battle followed by the return of the grinning Israeli. Once again the Iraqis are taunted, and the commander sends 200 troops. They also follow the Israeli down the far side of the dune, where the sound of battle emerges, but this time in the midst of the battle, one, mortally injured Iraqi soldier pulls himself to the top of the dune, and with his dying breath shouts a warning to his commander, "It's a trap—there are two of them!!"

I though of that story when I read the following from the Washington Post via the Wichita Eagle...

Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden won praise from two moderate Republican senators Friday, a sign of strength for his bid to become CIA director despite a furor over the government's reported massive collection of telephone records....

Hayden, who met individually with five senators Friday, will be closely questioned about the legality of surveillance operations in open and closed confirmation hearings by the Senate intelligence committee next week, several lawmakers said. But two Republicans who have opposed the Bush administration on some issues strongly hinted they will vote to confirm him....

Hayden directed the National Security Agency when it began warrantless eavesdropping of an undisclosed number of Americans' phone calls and e-mails, and when the agency reportedly began collecting the telephone records of millions of U.S. households and businesses. President Bush apparently approved both efforts after the Sept. 11 attacks. But they became known publicly only years later through newspaper reports, including USA Today's article Thursday on the phone records.

The Democrats are screaming bloody murder over the wire-tapping thing, and Bush nominates one of the guys in charge of it to head the CIA? Now the guy will be facing a tough closed-door meeting with Senators looking for something else to hang on the President? I was just wondering if maybe that meeting would wind up like the joke above. A witless Senate committee ambushed by a Bush nominee armed with [gasp] facts.

Posted by Danny Carlton at May 16, 2006 7:39 AM