An about-face on Congressional NSA oversight? Unlikely.

The article suggests that the move was motivated by the desire to ease the confirmation hearings of General Hayden, set to begin at the end of this week. But articles on the story are making different inferences about what exactly this decision entails.

Reversing a position it has held for months, the White House on Tuesday agreed to brief all members of the House and Senate intelligence committees on a controversial domestic wiretapping operation — just as the architect of the program is facing a contentious confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill.

In making the concession, the Bush administration is seeking to improve the prospects of the president's nominee to be the next CIA director, Air Force Gen. Michael V. Hayden, by preempting attacks from lawmakers angry that they have been kept in the dark on domestic spying activities.

"Agreed to briefings" is hardly the same as the 'full committee oversight' a Reuters story promises. In fact, nothing in the article suggests any measure of oversight, or an indication that the White House will provide the Congressional intelligence committees with any more information than it feels like sharing.

My guess is that it's specifically designed to sound like a meaningful gesture of goodwill, but actually requires little of the White House. After all, they've dishonestly told the public on several occasions that committee members have been briefed all along, and were fully aware of the scope of the surveillance program(s).