CIA Chief: Bin Laden Alive, Worried About 'Own Security'
Hayden Says U.S. Disrupted Plot That Would Have Rivaled 9/11
Hayden said the deaths of at least six top al Qaeda commanders in Pakistan had kept the terror group "off balance."
Hayden said he wanted to give the incoming administration "as clear a picture as possible of the state of the conflict and the shape of the enemy."
He claimed al Qaeda in Iraq "is on the verge of strategic defeat." But he said the "bleed-out" of al Qaeda veterans from Iraq is now a growing concern.
"Iraq veterans also have been involved in planning attacks in Europe and the United States," Gen. Hayden said.
The good news of success in Iraq against al Qaeda was measured against the terror group's alarming growth in North and East Africa and Yemen, he said in his remarks.
Hayden also took a question about his political future as the head of the agency in an Obama administration after his speech to the Atlantic Council. Hayden said, "I'll let Adm. McConnell, speak for himself…we serve at the pleasure of the President…This is a decision for the President…If asked to stay I would strongly consider it."
Hayden also said, "The DNI is the top intelligence advisor to the President, so there has to be a personal relationship."
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