Mike Hayden

Edward Snowden doesn’t deserve a pardon

With last week's premiere of conspiracy-weaving director Oliver Stone's "Snowden," acolytes and supporters of the former National Security Agency contractor are beating the drum for pardon, clemency or at least a sweetheart pretrial plea bargain to prepare for his triumphal return home.

September 21, 2016

The 302 makes it more certain — Hillary Clinton isn’t fit to be president

Last Friday was getaway day for a three-day holiday weekend as a Gulf hurricane was making landfall in Florida. So we had every right to expect a significant dump of controversial documents by the federal government while we were so distracted.

September 6, 2016

Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump both unqualified to be president

As we approach Labor Day, conversations in the Hayden household, as in most of America I suspect, have been trending toward the upcoming presidential election.

August 23, 2016

Too much ‘truthiness,’ not enough truth in the 2016 presidential campaign

There's a whole lot of "truthiness" going on in the 2016 presidential campaign.

August 18, 2016

Cyberthreat reaction lacks resolve for STEM education

Dramatic headlines about cyberthreats are filling the pages of our newspapers. Calls for action are heard daily. So far, though, we have not evidenced the determination and resolve with which we faced the Sputnik challenge.

August 4, 2016

Intel, Obama and walking away from the red line in Syria

I recently joined other former security officials to urge the United States government to be generous to Syrian and other refugees driven from their homes by today's conflicts. We brought out the usual arguments: We need to live up to our historical heritage as a refuge and, besides, failing to provide haven would prolong the kind of global disorder that ultimately makes us all less safe.

June 28, 2016

MICHAEL HAYDEN: Intelligence briefings for presidential candidates, and the short runway when electe

There has been a lot of talk lately about the intelligence briefings that the presidential candidates will soon receive.

May 24, 2016

MICHAEL HAYDEN: Americans still believe in intelligence community

It's been six months since I've appeared in these pages. That gap hasn't been about a boycott or a contract dispute. Actually, The Washington Times has been rather generous, giving me that time to finish a book, get it cleared through the intelligence community review process and then endure an aggressive countrywide book tour organized by my publisher, Penguin.

May 9, 2016

MICHAEL HAYDEN: Obama’s retrench of America makes no wonderful life

Like many other American families this holiday season, the Hayden clan will set aside time to, once again, watch Frank Capra's 1946 classic, "It's a Wonderful Life."

November 24, 2015

MICHAEL HAYDEN: Syria civil war grows worse with each Obama ‘policy’ decision

A few years ago, I told a group at a counterterrorism conference that I thought the best possible outcome of the civil war in Syria was that President Bashar Assad's regime would win and keep control of the country.

September 28, 2015

MICHAEL HAYDEN: Politicization of intelligence on Islamic State fight

Politicization -- the shading of analysis to fit prevailing policy or politics -- is the harshest criticism one can make of an intelligence organization. It strikes beyond questions of competence to the fundamental ethic of the enterprise, which is, or should be, truth telling.

September 24, 2015

MICHAEL HAYDEN: Some changes that would make the Iran deal a better bet

So here we are. Most Americans and most members of Congress oppose the nuclear deal with Iran. But because of global politics and the corner we have painted ourselves into, an outright rejection could even be worse.

September 10, 2015

MICHAEL HAYDEN: Recognition that Iran deal leads to bad destinations

So in Tuesday's column, I wrote on my anger about aspects of the Iranian nuclear deal, but I promised to get over it and move on to a stage I called recognition.

September 9, 2015

MICHAEL HAYDEN: Iran nuclear deal sparks anger of self-preservation

Despite the saga over Hillary Clinton's emails, Donald Trump's sprint to front-runner status in the Republican presidential race and some interesting pennant races, the news this summer has never drifted far from the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran.

September 8, 2015

MICHAEL HAYDEN: Hillary Clinton’s classified email denial incoherent

Secrets. Spies. Statutes. Secretaries. Sounds like free association triggered by some of the stories making the rounds on the 24/7 news networks.

August 4, 2015

MICHAEL HAYDEN: Obama sells Iran nuclear deal different from promise to Congress

The hot topic around the Capital for the past 10 days has been the Iran nuclear deal. First, we've seen the Obama administration's hard sell. President Obama last week was knowledgeable, confident and combative in several lengthy soliloquies on the deal before the press corps in the East Room. He was also dismissive and delegitimizing of any opposition.

July 22, 2015

MICHAEL HAYDEN: OPM security breach blame belongs to U.S., not China

Jimmie Breslin borrowed a line from manager Casey Stengel to title his chronicle of the worst team in baseball history, the 1962 Mets. Stengel plaintively asked, "Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?" Given recent events, Americans could be asking the same question about their government's cyber performance.

June 24, 2015