Michael Hayden's philosophy in one sentence

BBC reporter Tom Mangold managed to find his way onto a cruise ship that boasted a large number of former intelligence officials, including Porter Goss, and Michael Hayden. A Caribbean cruise with former CIA chiefs, 13 January 11, bbc.co.uk

Hayden, of course, was running the NSA when Thomas Drake, Diane Roark, and others tried to stop the Trailblazer project and other wastes and abuses inside the NSA. Hayden came down on them very hard, and many of them quit. It is unknown if he directly influenced the failed government prosecution of Drake for Espionage.

What drove Hayden? What was his philosophy? Perhaps we can see an inkling of it as Hayden explained to Mangold why he talks to the press so much.

"We exist in a society that distrusts secrecy and power most of all. In order to be successful espionage services have to be only two things - secretive and powerful. So you've got that cultural tension and I feel a certain sense of responsibility to try to defuse that."

In trying to explain his media philosophy, he seems to have inadvertently explained his management philosophy.

Some people might argue that espionage services have to be inquisitive, insightful, creative, intelligent, highly educated, self correcting, lacking in arrogance, dedicated, hard working, loyal to the constitution, etc. But not General Hayden. For him, espionage services have to be secretive and powerful. That's it.

Maybe that explains why he sent out this memo regarding his failed Trailblazer project and the dissenters inside NSA.

"individuals, in a session with our congressional overseers, took a position in direct opposition to one that we had corporately decided to follow.... Actions contrary to our decisions will have a serious adverse effect on our efforts to transform N.S.A., and I cannot tolerate them." (from The Secret Sharer, Jane Mayer, June 2011 New Yorker.)

It might also explain why, when the Department of Defense investigated the project, it had diffculty finding people who would talk.

"Several contractors for the project were worried about cooperating with DoD's audit for fear of "management reprisal""(from the IG report, available in redacted form at POGO Obtains Pentagon Inspector General Report Associated With NSA Whistleblower Tom Drake, Project on Government Oversight, Nick Schwellenbach, 2011 June).

If management truly believed that the organization depended on secrecy and power above all else, then of course people were afraid to talk. Look at what happened to Drake, Roark, and the others. How much influence did Hayden have directly on their case? Unknown.

Then again, all the secrecy and power in the world cannot hide the truth forever, and some day we will know the specific role that Michael Hayden played in taking us over into the Dark Side.