Secretive Agency Under the Spotlight

The conflict is partly a continuation of a decades-long tradition of clashes between the agency and its congressional overseers, though rarely have the underlying issues commanded so much unwanted international attention for the CIA. Democratic lawmakers behind the push for changes say sweeping measures are needed to send a message to the rest of the world.

"The Bush administration's embrace of torture and secret detentions has led our country down a dark hallway," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said in unveiling legislation to restrict CIA interrogations. He said the proposals would "help put right what has gone so badly wrong, and restore the stature and goodwill this nation had earned around the world before this administration took office."

While the CIA generally declines to comment on specific interrogation policies, Hayden, now in his third year as director, has repeatedly asserted that the agency has moved away from practices that generated most of the controversy.

Four months after becoming CIA chief in May 2006, he presided over the emptying of secret CIA prisons and the transfer of al-Qaeda detainees to U.S. military custody. Hayden disclosed last year that the agency had abandoned the practice of waterboarding after 2003 and that it was no longer in the business of operating long-term detention facilities for terrorism suspects.

In a move viewed as intended to defuse congressional criticism, he also agreed to expand the number of lawmakers receiving classified briefings on the agency's counterterrorism programs. Previously, briefings about the most sensitive CIA operations had been limited to four lawmakers -- the top Democrat and Republican on the House and Senate intelligence committees -- who were prohibited by law from sharing details with others, including their staff members.

The reaction from lawmakers has been mixed. While Democrats generally describe Hayden as pragmatic and likable, some complain that his CIA remains unduly secretive and in lockstep with the Bush administration on controversial policies such as wiretapping and detainee interrogation. Some lawmakers are still angered over a decision last year to investigate the agency's internal watchdog, the CIA inspector general, which has been critical both of the agency's interrogation practices as well as its failure to anticipate the Sept. 11 attacks.

"I don't think anyone questions that General Hayden is a good manager," said Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). "But when it comes to the public's right to know, in some cases, he has been on the wrong side."

Hayden has had greater success in mending fences with foreign intelligence services, some of which had distanced themselves from the Bush administration since the start of the Iraq war. By late August, Hayden and his chief clandestine officer, Stephen R. Kappes, will have made visits to 50 foreign countries to cement relations with their intelligence counterparts. Other foreign intelligence heads have been hosted by Hayden at his private residence on the grounds of Bolling Air Force Base in Southwest Washington.

"[We] seek out their ideas, undertake common efforts," Hayden said. "We've given many of them secure phones so they can call me directly."