Gen. Michael Hayden speaks after President Bush announced his nomination to head the CIA at the White House in Washington May 8, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters)

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. President George W. Bushon Monday named an Air Force General, Michael Hayden, as the new Central Intelligence Agency chief.

    If confirmed by the Senate, Hayden, currently the deputy director of national intelligence, would replace Porter Goss, a former congressman, who resigned on Friday after less than two years in the position.

    "Mike Hayden is extremely qualified for this position," Bush said at the White House, describing the general as knowing "the intelligence community from the ground up."

    He said Hayden had demonstrated an ability to adapt the intelligence services to the new challenges of the war on terror, and was "the right man to lead the CIA at this critical moment in our nation's history."

    Hayden, born in March, 1945 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, earned a B.A. in history in 1967 and an M.A. in modern American history in 1969, both from Duquesne University.

    He entered active military service in 1969, was appointed director of the National Security Agency in 1999, and became deputy director of national intelligence in April 2005.

    The nomination has generated mix reactions in Washington. Republican Senator Saxby Chambliss said that Hayden's military background would be a "major problem," and Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein suggested that Hayden might think about resigning his military post if he were going to head the CIA.

    The nomination rekindled debate over the administration's domestic surveillance program, which Hayden used to oversee as the former director of the National Security Agency.

    The Republican Senator Arlen Specter, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said before the announcement that he would raise questions about the legality of the domestic surveillance program run by the National Security Agency when the Senate debated the nomination. Enditem