To the Point

New Blood and Old Questions for the CIA

Last Friday, Porter Goss surprised the world outside the Beltway by resigning after less than two years as head of the CIA. President Bush was ready with a replacement, and today he nominated four-star Air Force General Michael Hayden, a former head of the National Security Agency and currently Deputy to John Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence. Key Republicans are among those who call Hayden the "wrong person at the wrong place at the wrong time." Hayden's military background could be a liability for Senate confirmation to a civilian job at a time when the Rumsfeld Pentagon is trying to expand its intelligence role, and Hayden's the architect of domestic eavesdropping by the National Security Agency. Making News: President Bush Responds to Darfur Peace AgreementIn the wake of last week's peace agreement between Sudan and some rebels in the province of Darfur, President Bush asked Congress today for another $225 million in food aid for 3.5 million refugees. He will also send Secretary Rice to the Security Council request that it accelerate deployment of UN peacekeepers. Column Lynch reports from the United Nations for the Washington Post.Reporter's Notebook: UN Panel Questions US Officials about TortureFor the first time in six years, US officials are appearing before the UN's Committee against Torture, a watchdog group set up by the Convention against Torture, signed by 141 countries. The United States conceded that "mistakes" have been made in handling prisoners in the war on terror, resulting in the deaths of 29 people, but insisted that "all US officials are prohibited from engaging in torture at all times and in all places." We hear more from Scott Horton of the New York Bar Association and former Justice Department staffer David Rivkin