CIA New director meets workers

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Gen. Michael Hayden was sworn in as CIA director Tuesday and told the officers at the embattled agency they must be competent and cooperative to keep the "central" in Central Intelligence Agency.
Even with those marching orders, Hayden reassured the agency that it remains key to U.S. spy operations and analysis.
In his first day on the job, Hayden told his staff that only the CIA has the "connective tissue" to bring the intelligence community together. A fan of sports metaphors, Hayden compared the CIA to a star player on a football team: critical but part of a whole that must work together.
Hayden addressed the work force for under an hour, taking questions and getting a standing ovation, said agency spokeswoman Jennifer Millerwise Dyck.
Change in status
Though the CIA once was pre-eminent among the 15 other spy agencies, the 2004 intelligence reform law made it equal to other spy organizations including the National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency.
According to Dyck, Hayden said the CIA must make sure it is "competent" and "cooperative" to ensure it is "central."
The audience was limited to CIA employees, with no reporters or other outsiders admitted.
Hayden -- the former NSA chief who served as the No. 2 intelligence official for the last year -- was sworn in by National Intelligence Director John Negroponte. President Bush plans to come to the CIA's Langley, Va., campus this afternoon for a second, presidential swearing-in.