Did the Nuremberg trials not decide for all time, that the "I was just following orders [contributing to atrocities]" would never fly again? Congress now asserts Ms. Haspel will be fired if she permits torture? That's something like taking oversized shoes from a rogue clown, isn't it? This is appalling. She should never hold the position in the first place. This decision is from the same august Senate which, like the other chamber, rolls over as the president repeatedly, daily, without hesitation, sidesteps the US Constitution -- because House and Senate can't be bothered to stop the lawlessness? This confirmation officially asserts the federal government is an morally-destitute, fetid and filthy swamp.
3
When the NYT prints an article that includes a final vote on a specific piece of legislation it would be helpful if they would include a graphic indicating how each senator or representative voted on the legislation. It would cost the NYT little and would save reader searching for other sources that can provide that basic information. You never know, perhaps in our search we may find an even better source for our daily news.
1
This is torture. The promotion of known criminals is torture. Ignoring the destruction of documented evidence of torture is torture. The entire Trump Administration is torture.
Please, please end the torture. Many of us won't last much longer.
2
Great news! A blow for equality! Shows that women are as fully capable of being ruthless and morally repugnant as men are! She was "just doing her job." She made sure she destroyed the evidence. Her appointment, in the clear and cynical light of day, means that the USA cannot claim "exceptionalism" or the higher ground over any other nation. They torture; they're bad. We torture; we're good. I don't think so.
4
Democrats can't even deliver on their anti-Trump platitudes.
Sad.
Blue Wave?
LOL
4
Since we face a clear & present danger from a foreign
power we should focus on where public officials stand
now, not what they did in a past life. The threat to our democracy requires that we dispense with political
litmus tests. We need a 'big tent' approach to protect
the national interest. Gina Haspel stands with Rosenstein, Wray, Coates, Hayden, & others, who have opted for democracy over political expediency. Let's not be fiddlers while Rome burns. The stakes are high, with too much
riding on the outcome to be guided by narrow vision.
To those who are making a mountain out of a molehill about the torture concerns about Gina Haspel around the turn of the century, if she did anything unlawful she should have been removed from the CIA. All of sudden some have memory loss. Trump was not the president between 2001 and 2009. It was George W. Bush and Dick Cheney was the Vice president and after 911 too many blunders were committed beginning with the Afghanistan war and Iraq war. Ms Haspel was not the director or deputy director of the CIA, she was way down on the tottum pole just trying to do her job. She did not make the rules nor is there any evidence that she went over board. During her confirmation she was told in no uncertain terms that torture and water boarding will not be tolerated and if she does allow the CIA to do any atrocity that she will be held accountable and fired. It would have been insane to ignore her long distinguished service and her readiness to take the position. The senators from both parties who voted to confirm her did so knowing her history and have done so with thorough vetting.
5
"...if she did anything unlawful she should have been removed from the CIA."
That's it, I've laughed so hard I cracked 3 ribs and must go back to bed. You must be new here!
3
The secrecy that surrounds CIA operations will allow the agency to do nearly anything it wants despite promises. That said, let us hope Ms. Haspel sticks by her "no torture" declaration.
At the rate Trump is stirring up problems world wide, she will have all she can handle.
The ultimate solution will be found in the American voters' response to this terrible presidency starting in November.
3
Unfortunately, this is one of those examples that the system is both broken and it works (for those who like it broken). If all people who have done bad things are just forgiven for promising not to do them again, we'd have a much smaller prison population. But it only applies to the well-connected, the powerful, or the rich.
If Gina Haspel is such an evil, despicable person, then the Senate Democrats, especially Mark Warner of Virginia, should have held firm to their opposition to her. But instead, they changed their minds and confirmed her. The only thing she did “wrong” was recommend the destruction of the videotapes that recorded, documented, the so-called torture of the terrorists; she recommended their destruction because the taps revealed the identities of CIA operatives. The tapes could have been reviewed, gone through a declassification review like any other classified government document, and the sections with the images of the operatives removed, or the faces could have been blacked out. Technology exists to accomplish these things. So, I say to all who are outraged by her conformation to Director of the CIA, direct your outrage to Mark Warner and the other Democrats who approved her. If they are so opposed to the appointees of the Trump administration, then they should not approve them. The Democrats are part of the problem; they are nothing but talk. AS long as they confirm Trump appointees, they are complicit with his agenda. With regard to “torture,” just imagine that any of you ever faced a terrorist, foreign or domestic, keep in mind that the terrorist would not think twice about torturing and killing you. Cheers!
@Southern Boy: "With regard to 'torture,' just imagine that any of you ever faced a terrorist, foreign or domestic, keep in mind that the terrorist would not think twice about torturing and killing you."
So you have in fact, in trying to defend the indefensible, drawn the equality: WE are terrorists.
2
I would never have imagined the title "Torturer in Chief" occurring to me in a million years with reference to a Director of the CIA. Strange days indeed.
This s the Trump doctrine: don’t mess with US. The days when America played nice with its neighbors are gone. Playing nice gets sand kicked in your face. Trump wants the United States to be the biggest bully on the beach. On the World stage you have to be tough and project toughness, there are a lot of bad people out there, a lot of bad people who mean us harm, Trump is saying , and very loudly too: it you think about messing with US, you will pay a price, and if you are so stupid that you would actually mess with US, you’ll wish you’d never been born. The Liberals on Central Park West and Santa Barbara are spilling their wine over this, but mister and misses Joe Sixpack are loving it.
Great! The United States is now in the company of all tyrannical regimes that don't give a hoot for Human Rights. There was time when GIs were known as, " The gentle conquerors." But that was when America was decent, a beacon of hope, for the Free World. Now, with Animal-Trump, and the rest of the GOP zoo, at the helm, it seems that Requiem is in order...MAGA?
Readers commenting on this article obviously lost no one on 911. It’s easy to second guess but hard to be on the front lines...glad I didn’t have to make the tough calls but equally comforted we had people in charge who did. God speed Ms. Haspel. Thank you for your service and for ignoring the critics who benefit from your work.
1
A sad day for America
A torturer is given a leadership role in our government
By my definition that is a high crime and misdemeanor
Please.....vote in November
1
The most important thing is the new CIA Director not be going on T.V. talk shows like former CIA Director William Colby appeared on the Ruff House T.V. program with host Howard Ruff back on Oct. 29, 1979. During course of program subject of Iran came up and Colby said Iran "could soon have a new government, a military leader could be coming to power and the new government will be friendly towards Israel." That evening the message from Colby was forwarded to the former Embassy of Iran in Washington and an acknowledgement letter from the embassy was received dated Nov. 4, 1979 (the very day Iran captured the American embassy in Iran) and signed by the Charge d'Affaires Hon. Ali A. Aga. In his letter of Nov. 4, 1979 the Hon. Ali A. Aga made this statement "Of course they could not come back after the commercial to talk about a new government in Iran."
Here we are, with the Trump administration still searching for the bottom. In the gauzy moment, any of us might rationalize acts of torture and destruction of evidence of that torture as morally sustainable and within legal norms, as Ms. Haspel did a dozen years ago. However, what makes conservatives (and a handful of Democrats) repugnant is that they now have the clarity to see in hindsight that torture was not legal or morally sustainable, and the obligation to confirm that now, and they have instead embraced it. We have become exactly what we used to despise in our enemies.
10
Ms. Haspel was the best choice for CIA Director. A lifetime employee who worked her way up the org chart based on exemplary service. She is not a political chrony or member of Congress whose only contact with the CIA was reading about it in the newspaper or congressional briefing. Her “involvement” with torture is not a disqualifying element for me. The DOJ’s pre-approval of a program that became part of her job and her assurance that she would not institute such a program is good enough for me.
1
This is not about trump. It is the lack of resistance from democrats in the senate.
Stop telling us that voting in November will make everything right again, when the democrats take back congress. The six democrat votes made all the difference. This would never have happened with the republicans.
Take a good hard look in the mirror.
2
What would the Republicans have done if HRC was in office and she had appointed Gina to same position?
1
Confirming Haspel was the right thing to do. We desperately need a competent, experienced veteran to run the Agency. There are more than enough political hacks and administrators who hate their own agencies running things in Washington.
The torture episodes were a black mark on an otherwise admirable record. But let that be water under the board. Then, I wish her good luck and the strength to maintain her moral compass in a wilderness of immorality.
5
It's sickening that a known torturer and law breaker has been given the green light to head the CIA. I hope her records haunts her publicly, limits her scope and influence, and that those who confirmed are seen as the enablers and accomplices they are.
9
I am very thankful you were not responsible for our security after 9/11/2001.
Ali Soufran has outlined well the benefits of soft interrogation v. near drowning.
Ms Haspel is another alligator in the swamp. She had proven that she will do anything she is told or anything she needs to, to survive, including breaking the law and putting aside many other respected conventions. She herself may not have been the actual torturer, but I think worse: she dreamt it up, techniques and all. Every time I see her thin lipped, tight smile, I’m reminded of someone getting away with murder and being so self congratulatory. It’s nothing short of creepy. We have sunk to a very low low. If this is what you have to do to succeed as a woman in high government, you can count me out.
26
The weak Democrats always give in. Not one of Trump's nominees should ever be confirmed. How can these Democrats forget what Mitch McConnell did in refusing to hold hearings for Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court? How can they cooperate after one of the lowest things an elected official could do? If the Democrats dont start showing some guts they will stay in the minority forever. Americans dont like weaknesses.
10
As expected, passionate and breathless condemnation from people who I don't think have any real clue about what our CIA and other intelligence agencies have done over the past several decades to protect us. Is it ugly? Yep, and it involves lying and the same sort of political interference Russia puts on us and countries all over the world. I may not like it, but I think I understand what Ms. Haspel and her colleagues who serve unrecognized wrestle with daily. The old saw, "Someone has to do it" pertains. And I'm far happier with Gina Haspel at the helm of the CIA than I would be with any political appointment that Donald Trump might come up with. Picture Scott Pruitt at CIA and just count your blessings.
4
Well, as was said over and over and over at the post WW2 War Crimes trials: "I was only following orders........"
1
Never mind the message being sent by our torture ( “and worse”) loving president...
Oh I mind that message a lot, and I'd rather have Gina Haspel between him and any implementation that Scott Pruitt, or any number of his other lackeys might blindly follow.
Another sad day for America as Trump and his backers have no moral compass, What drives them is greed and power,
Each passing day Trump and his policies sows distrust, fear and hate, Was this the atmosphere when Hitler first came to power?
5
No it was worse when Obama was the president, He tried to fundamentally change The United States and fortunately he failed. President Trump is reversing all of Obama's rotten policies and poor decisions. The deep state is on it's heels. The Obama legacy is gone! MAGA, MAGA, MAGA. The amoral legacy of liberal democrats is showing it's ugly face, Trump will continue to correct this when he appoints more and more conservative judges including the USSC judges.
We wanted women in politics. Well, we got what we wanted - a role model for women to aspire to emulate.
4
How dismissive of women elected by their constituents to represent them.
Gina Haspel represents only the morally depraved trump administration, Senate Republicans (except John McCain), and the Democrats who voted for her.
Haspel's confirmation was a de facto affirmation of an American policy of torture. Her words are insignificant compared to the Senate's approval of the use of torture by their votes.
11
How long before trump lets our domestic security agencies and the police know that torture is A OK in his book?
2
Mind-boggling. Trump could nominate Bernie Madoff to be the next head of the SEC and, although some would have "reservations," this Senate would vote to confirm.
9
Torture is torture is torture. Ms. Haspell is a disgrace. She brings dishonor to a nation which once believed in the Geneva Conventions. Now it seems even torture is off the table of ethical behavior. We now live in the Age of Trump, where Right is Wrong, Lies are Truth, Truth is Fake. We are truly living in an Orwellian World. God help US.
The days when our elected officials did the right thing are literally dying off the vine, with honorable people like a true war hero, John McCain, is being insulted before they have dug his grave. How low can this nation sink? A few years ago, Senator McCain received the JFK "Profiles In Courage" award. Now, along with his service country, what does it matter? Was it all for nothing. Are values like honor, integrity, courage, grace under pressure gone? Apparently so.
Americans have lost their moral compass. We are currently experiencing a nadir in our history. In the past, despite our flaws, we Americans managed to extricate itself from potentially terminal outcomes. We now are living through this latest crisis in confidence. Can we once again muster those long-held beliefs in an America which once stood for something? Are we capable of once again like the Phoenix rise from the ashes of this despicable administration? Can we once nce again shine brightly?
I still believe, yes, we can. As long as we still hopeful Americans don't lose Hope, any and all is is possible. Without Hope, however, nothing is.
DD
Manhattan
12
It's clear from Ms. Haspel's letter to Sen. Warner that she is more concerned with the damage that torture did to the CIA than to the reputation and moral standing of the United States.
It's becoming harder and harder to believe in Democrats. And even harder and harder to love America.
12
Between 2001 and 2014, the enhanced interrogation techniques were not an issue, the goal was to eradicate Al Qaeda at any price. The Bush administration used black sites and the C.I.A., the Obama administration used warships at sea and the Navy, the difference was nothing more than cosmetic.
13 years later, the Senate Intelligence Committee called those techniques inefficient, back to 9/11 this was a different story.
Mazel Tov! Women have come a long way! And why shouldn't one lead our spy agency?! As for the torture, Director Haspel has written a letter essentially stating she will take the high road and shall maintain a proper moral stance! Integrity, has usually never been a problem for the fairer sex! We wish her well.
2
The Senate normalized torture today.
They made it just another discontinued (for now) policy that they can pass off as something that might have been a "mistake" in the past, but not despicable enough or illegal enough, to disqualify one of its practitioners from being appointed to run the CIA.
That the Senate of the United States of America has become an apologist for torture and a promoter of torturers is a travesty of leadership and a betrayal of the most basic of moral principles.
Sadly, its action only demonstrates how easy it has been for the right wing propaganda machine to bring out the worst in America in a few short decades and install that malign spirit into the White House and the Congress.
And there will be more travesties to come until the majority in this country works up the courage to refuse to go along. Until we refuse to normalize brutality, cruelty, bigotry, and lies. Until we vote out the purveyors of cynicism, greed, spite and cruelty, and vote in those who promote the best in us, the most optimistic, creative, principled, generous, enterprising, compassionate, inclusive, and courageous parts in us that will spur us on to do great things, not just for ourselves, but for each other.
9
Well said !
I'm pleased to see a woman hold this position, even if she's a Republican appointee. Maybe those misogynist Taliban, Al-Qaeda, ISIS and Boko Haram guys will be a little less cocky and a little more cooperative under interrogation knowing an American woman holds their fate in her hands. More Muslim women might be helpful to the agency as well.
1
I applaud the Senate for confirming this fine woman.
While I personally am not enamored with CIA because most of its intelligence breakthroughs vis a vis the Russians are through turncoats from that side.
I also do not think that the CIA did it's reputation any good when an al Qaeda defector turned out to be a double agent who killed 6 plus agents in one fell swoop,
But I guess we need CIA or so says the Congress.
This woman was pilloried with a 20/20 hindsight over torture. However, many Americans like me think these animals who never gave innocent Americans even a choice - deserve even worse.
What is telling is how far Sen McCain has fallen in standing.
His one upmanship has grated on fellow Republicans including myself.
And he did himself no good by asking the Senate to reject this nomination.
I admire Sen McCain but he needs to retire gracefully rather than fight with the POTUS. It's not going to get him anywhere.
There is a country western song, something like "how can we miss you if you never go away."
We want to miss Sen McCain.
2
In this Trump era of totally unqualified candidates for various posts, thank God for Gina Haspel. She has the right experience for a tough job. The Democrats who crossed party lines to confirm her made the right decision.
3
The US surrender of the moral high ground is now complete. You are no longer the house on the hill, no longer a beacon of hope, no longer a paragon of anything other than corruption, self-dealing and expedience.
11
I am dubious of Ms. Haspel due to her endorsement by Brennan. He seems to have a lot to hide in terms of his actions surrounding the investigation and spying on the Trump campaign. Given that Ms. Haspel already destroyed evidence of illegal conduct (torture) in her role at the CIA, how surprised will we be when Brennan's footprints get washed away.
3
yes,Democrats can be as complicit as Republicans when it comes to political
calculations, but excuse me for not
losing too much sleep over their votes
on this nominee.I have no sympathy
whatsoever for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
this monster was the mastermind of the
massacre of more than three thousand
of our innocent fellow Americans. they
can throw him off the Empire State Building,
for all I care.yes,in the vast majority of cases,
torture is wrong,but if they gained useful
information to keep us all safe, then I could
care less what happened to this fiend.
3
We should be ashamed and, perhaps, afraid.
Torturer. Ran Black Site prison. Destroyed evidence.
Horrific.
9
So, what does America offer up to the world? Trump, a known cheat, liar, predator, misogynist, philanderer, racist, demagogue, illiterate, serial bankrupt, narcissist, sociopath, arrested development, mental deficient authoritarian for President. And Ms. Haspel, a known torturer, for head of the CIA. What is the world to think of us? Ah, yes. That beacon of liberty, that defender of the weak, that champion of truth, that city upon a hill.
13
What will the world think of us?
Are you seriously doubtful that the overwhelming majority of intelligence agencies in the world don't use such methods at least occasionally?
We can expect Trump to nominate a known torturer. But the Senate Committee confirmed it? Now what's their reason to confirm this torturer? Perhaps they did not read her rèsumè! They were getting late for golfing.
3
The US officially endorses torture as a foreign policy.
8
"Ms. Haspel, a career clandestine officer, will take the helm as the agency’s first female director..."?
And the agency's only documented perpetrator of crimes contrary to the Geneva Conventions before becoming head?
THAT'S Haspel's accomplishment!
SHAME on the Times for trying to shoehorn this (despicable) turn of events into the "triumph for women" story-line!
10
This is like confirming Josef Mengele as Surgeon General on the basis of a statement that, on second thought and in hindsight, maybe all those medical experiments weren't such a good idea after all since they put Germany and the Nazis in such a bad light.
But it doesn't mean we didn't occasionally get some good scientific data from them.
13
This vote revealed a great deal about the Democratic Party's so-called "resistance" to Donald J. Trump and the Republicans.
For those curious readers, the following Democratic Senators voted to confirm Gina Haspel despite the torture allegations:
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Virginia)
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-North Dakota)
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida)
Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Indiana)
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia)
Sen. Jean Shaheen (D-New Hampshire)
https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cf...
8
Pro-torture Democrats.
Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire
Mark Warner of Virginia,
Joe Manchin of West Virginia,
Joe Donnelly of Indiana,
Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota
Bill Nelson of Florida.
10
when do the trials for treason start?
gutless pols again reward criminals at citizens expense.
4
Just another example of our unprincipled leadership on both sides. Pathetic.
4
A nation of laws? Hardy. The Intercept reported earlier today that a US Navy Reserve Doctor wrote to Warren on Monday regarding one of Haspel's torture victims - "One of the most severely traumatized individuals I have ever seen" - this statement from an MD who has over 20 years of treating torture victims.
Dr. Sandra Crosby, now a Professor of Public Health, Boston University - I salute you. You are a true patriot.
Direct quotation from Dr. Crosby's letter to Senator Warren........ “He is irreversibly damaged by torture that was unusually cruel and designed to break him. In my over 20 years of experience treating torture victims from around the world, including Syria, Iraq, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mr. al-Nashiri presents as one of the most severely traumatized individuals I have ever seen.”
8
Disgusting. She is a war criminal and the torture program did nothing but increase hatred towards our country.
We can stop claiming to care about democracy and human rights because we're incapable of upholding either.
Shame on the Democrats that enabled this confirmation. Spineless cowards.
9
Yup. Those six shameless Democrats did this all by themselves. Try a little proportionality. Sheesh.
1
Sheesh yourself. Stop covering and making excuses for people with zero principles. Opposing torture should be a moderate, liberal or progressive position without exception.
You can go for low-hanging fruit and criticize Republicans all day, as they are terrible. However, there is absolutely no reason why Democrats shouldn't be held to a higher standard by the people they represent. If your best argument is "well they do it too", that's a problem.
I don't want Democrats that vote like Republicans representing me.
And so it's official. The woman who approved and orchestrated mental and physical torture against other human beings in the name of the United States will now head our country's chief spy agency. A few hours earlier, our president referred to some undocumented immigrants as "animals." Not long before that, our tax dollars helped to underwrite the slaughter of more than fifty Palestinians, while two anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic, anti-Mormon and anti-Catholic preachers led prayers at the ceremonial opening of the U.S. embassy in Jerusalem. Is this week an aberration, or has our country lost its moral compass and gone down the rabbit hole?
41
All branches of the bankrupt U.S. government are dominated and run by lawyers and this is known as the U.S. legal caste. Late American newspaper publisher Edward W. Scripps wrote "If there is such a thing as true freedom and democracy then the road to that goal lies over and through the ruin and annihilation of the legal caste."
Moral compasss? You just don't know how I wondered about that when my childhood friends returned from Vietnam in black plastic body-bags, and I had to talk to their parents, and give them the snappy PR enlistment pic, that came with the DOD Greetings: your son is dead, blurb. I was a newspaper editor somewhere in the Deep South.That was about 50 years ago, and it still hurts. It will hurt until I die.MAGA?
2
Just a rabbit hole??
A tale of two women:
Gina Haspel oversees waterboarding torture, and her CIA career prospers.
Valerie Plame's spouse blows the whistle on false WMD intelligence, her CIA cover is blown in retribution, and her career is ruined.
33
Two of the Senate’s 51 Republicans, Senator Jeff Flake and Senator Rand Paul, voted against Haspel. Senator John McCain was absent for medical reasons but said previously that Haspel should not be confirmed.
Here are the six Democrats who voted to confirm Haspel:
Senator Joe Donnelly
Senator Heidi Heitkamp
Senator Joe Manchin
Senator Bill Nelson
Senator Jeanne Shaheen
Senator Mark Warner
Sometimes I wonder what Democrats really stand for and what they really believe in.
43
We are a nation of narcissists. These dudes just want to be reelected. I've given up on this country which is rotten to the core.
1
Time to vote the following Dems out of office:
Senator Joe Donnelly, of Indiana
Senator Heidi Heitkamp, of North Dakota
Senator Joe Manchin, of West Virginia
Senator Bill Nelson, of Florida
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, of New Hampshire
Senator Mark Warner, of Virginia
29
Only to assure the republican majority continues? Nope.
4
There you have it: Democrats endorse torturers. We knew Republicans are all torture lovers... with the noted exceptions of John McCain and Rand Paul.
16
Six Democrats out of 49 hardly makes for “Democrats endorse torturers.”
Is the actual vote a top secret? How do you write an article like this without telling us what the vite was?
14
With Democrats like these
Senator Joe Donnelly, of Indiana
Senator Heidi Heitkamp, of North Dakota
Senator Joe Manchin, of West Virginia
Senator Bill Nelson, of Florida
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, of New Hampshire
Senator Mark Warner, of Virginia.
surely, the myth of Democrats resisting Trump has finally died.
It's called complicity.
45
I do believe that both Senators representing me and my state voted not to confirm. As did 43 other Democratic Senators. And those six who voted for Ms. Haspel are simply trying to relieve the GOP of its majority in the Senate. In the US of today, moral certainty of liberal positions is the recipe for continued conservative power to morally bankrupt this nation.
1
Six Democrats have aided and abetted torture and war crimes. Their vote FOR Haspel is an offense to all Americans. They humiliate us Democrats.
I appeal to every Democrat of conscience-- never, ever make contributions to any of the national Democratic organizations like the DNC, DCCC, etc. Those dollars go directly to re-elect anachronistic, entrenched Democrats like Warner, Shaheen, Nelson, Manchin, Heitkamp, and Donnelly. It is time to vote them OUT.
Make your contributions local and personal. Your time and money should be spent working against the re-election of those SIX and directly for their more enlightened Democratic opposition.
There are good, even GREAT, Democrats out there. We must find them and support them directly with our time, our passion, and with the few dollars corporate America has allowed us to retain (so far).
2
@Chris,
Let's be clear no to blame all Democrats, nor even all Republicans.
5 out of 48 Democrats voted for the torturer. That is appalling.
But 43 Democrats, and 2 Republicans, voted against the torturer. Two of them are my senators, Feinstein and Harris. Don't tar their reputations.
3
Oh, come on. We have a country in criminal freefall with little to be proud of. What’s another bad Confirmation? /snark.
7
A poster child for the banality of evil. Michael Palin portrayed a similar character in the movie, Brazil.
9
Trump is happy, what else counts?
2
In just the past year the US has withdrawn from the Paris climate accord, abondoned the Iran nuclear agreement, moved our embassy to Jerusalem. All this despite the pleas of our democratic allies in Europe. Now we have appointed a war criminal to head the CIA. In addition, we have engaged in permanent warfare since 9/11 conducting regime change operations and spreading death and destruction across the Middle East and Africa. If you think this ends well....
20
Our country is being doomed by a lack of moral leadership and resolve.
17
Shameful conduct by the Dems on this one. It suggests what they will do if they take over Congress, i.e., do as they did under Bush II, and give the GOPers anything they want. I ask, what's the difference?
12
USA ... Yes We Torture, And We’re Proud Of It.
Countdown to the next time our leaders lecture other countries on appropriate behavior: 10 ... 9 ... 8 ...
16
Another woman breaking the glass ceiling. Fantastic. What? She was appointed by a Republican? In that case, unacceptable. Women can’t be CIA chief. As long as they are appointed by a Republican.
3
Not exactly.
Someone who oversaw torture, ran a secret prison, and destroyed evidence should not be CIA chief, no matter their gender, no matter who nominated them.
4
She oversaw a program of torture and helped cover it up.
That is what is unacceptable. Not her party affiliation and certainly not her sex.
4
Torturers who destroyed the evidence shouldnt be in charge.
2
With the appointment of Gina Haspel as CIA Director America has no moral grounds to complain about any nation or organization that kidnaps, tortures and indefinitely detains people on color ethnic sectarian national origin grounds.
This lady is a war criminal as determined by the trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo. She is an American criminal for destroying evidence,
She is is an gnorant and incompetent member of the national security team that failed to deter, detect and defeat the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks and 2016 Russian hacking . Both events should have led to mass firings and resignations.
6
Are we sure that Gina Haspel has learnt her lessons from the past and will never order or condone the illegal torture of detainees and/ or cover up any such atrocities from the American public, whom she has sworn to serve?
Of course she hasn't, she's a career hack who will do anything to protect the image of the agency and it's staff, regardless of any future atrocities the CIA commits. America is an absolute disgrace.
9
To quote Pat Metheny- This is not America.
A Presidential election is stolen in plain sight and the 5 Republicans on the Supreme Court- without standing- appoints the Republican President.
A mobbed up grifter- that would be one Donald J Trump- manages to become President in one of the most surreal elections in history. He promises to drain the swamp and promptly puts Foxes in the Henhouse at EPA, Interior, The FCC and CFPB. He openly violates the emoluments clause and god knows what else. Stay tuned.
A Supreme Court seat is stolen in plain sight- again by Republicans and appointed by the idiot Donald Trump.
Now the Senate- with help from more than a few so-called Democrats- confirms a known torturer to head our CIA. This woman would not even give Sen Harris a straight and unambiguous answer during the hearings- like she is above the law or even admitting they violated standing treaties and laws under the legal fiction of John Yoo and David Addington.
It just seems to get worse and worse.
16
She’s a woman, how could the boys in Senate not if they ever hoped to get anymore. That’s the only torture they worry about.
Once more, evangelicals will chest beat their moral superiority even as they shrug indifferently over the possibility of this country once more engaging in torture.
“Pro life!”
Whatever.
17
In tonight's news, Trump will blackmail Planned Parenthood into stopping freely speaking to young women about abortion by withholding our tax dollars to them. Trump would rather send our tax money to the military to kill whole families of grown adults, their wives and their children along with the family's future generations. But the Evangelical Christian Sheeple will think he's great anyway, because they saw their false idol on TV say so.
3
If Ms. Haspel will demonstrate through a visual, cameras rolling, she herself undergoing an episode of waterboarding, then and only then will her condemnation of this act of evil torture be believable. Why do the Democrats always, always cave?
8
she didn't torture anyone. She was at the CIA, yes, and served to protect us.
The detractors are simply sexist haters, booing a female CIA head. So sad.
3
Perhaps if she had to be the one to do the torturing she would have stopped it.
She stood by while others carried out the torture.
It is impossible to believe that a shortage of other, moral women, led to this choice. She was nominated because she reflects trump's beliefs!
3
Vote was 54 to 45. McCain was not able to vote.
Demo voting FOR lovely Gina:
Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Bill Nelson of Florida, Mark Warner of Virginia, Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire.
Republicans voting against were limited to Jeff Flake and Rand Paul.
2
The fact that John McCain voted against Haspel says a lot.
As a victim of torture he's uniquely qualified to understand the subject better than anyone else.
14
“did damage to our officers and our standing in the world.”
So her "ethics" are whatever works, whatever benefits the agency? She mentions *only* our officers and our standing.
There is no other concept of what is "right," none of the moral, no real ethics.
She is not head of a religious organization emphasizing moral over other concerns, but she does represent all of us, the US itself, in its constant interaction with the world.
I would not do business with someone who thinks and acts like this. That person would be dangerous. The rule I told my clients was, "business with a bad person is bad business." It will never turn out well, no matter the immediate short term promises made.
Her selection is telling, not merely of Trump for nominating her, but of our entire government for participating in the making of her into this and support of her for this.
It is the Senate, it is the rest of the CIA, it is the rest of the long service professionals in our government.
4
Hurrah! Great day for increasing the numbers of powerful women in government.
3
Especially, when Gina Haspel has taken a P.H.D in Waterboading, and she destroyed her thesis so that nobody will access to her technique.
1
The CIA and its counterparts in virtually every other nation on earth break laws, lie and do bad things, all supposedly to protect the fatherland/motherland.
I believe this is largely true, and if the CIA did not exist we would have to re-invent it to protect ourselves from those who would harm the US.
Can we make omelets (protect the country) without breaking eggs (lying, breaking laws, doing bad things)? I wish we could, but until someone figures out how to accomplish that I think we must go with the devil we know.
I think Gina Haspel is a perfect choice as CIA director.
1
RIP, America; what a tragedy that I lived to see my country come to this.
2
Of course she was confirmed. Americans don't really care that their government commits war crimes. We expect them to. It's what we do.
2
Waterboarding against operatives who planned the REAL war-crime - the 9/11 murder of 3,000 innocent Americans can hardly be classed as a war crime.
Still floored by the number of leftists in the comments here who seem to think the Obama’s administration had some kind of superior morals for re-writing the field manuals and rescinding John Yoo’s memos.
You all do realize that the same printer that shot out the Yoo memos and the orders repealing them also put out the drone strike authorizations that exploded under President Obama. The strikes that killed untold numbers of children and civilians. But hey, Trump is double-plus ungood.
2
I'm on the left, and I agree with you about Obama.
I also agree with you that trump is double-plus ungood. Probably more like quintuple-plus. He's a quisling and money launderer, to boot.
2
So--now it's O.K. to torture "a little bit"---but only enough to say you
were "just obeying orders." There is no nuance to this. Haspel was responsible for structured, systematic, institutionally sanctioned torture.
We have gone fast forward from the agony of Auschwitz and the grounded ethically of Robert Jackson to the malevolence of Dick Cheney and the destructive impulsivity of Donald Trump.
We hanged Japanese Generals at the end of the Second World War
For exactly the same behavior Haspel presided over. Have we given up who we were at Nuemburg--the good guys who were never sadistic in their behavior.
I am appalled at every legislator who filed the final vote for approval.
From an old liberal and Democrat---God Bless you John McCain
and those who stood with you in their opposition to this ill considered nomination.
3
There are a few politicians that still believe that torture provides good "intelligence". That is alarming. Call torture "enhanced interrogation" but it is still torture.
One person stood out and away from the neocons of days gone by and voiced his objection to torture. The person had first hand experience. He was tortured. That would be Senator McCain.
Now, Ms. Haspel may have just been "following orders", I hope in the future she will tell those who may order her agency to conduct "enhanced interrogation" a flat and unquestionable NO and takes the high road.
1
Another creature added to the swamp. This one is a confessed torturer. The abandonment of moral principle by Congressional Republicans was expected, but by Democrats like Mark Warner it is a shock. This is the latest blow to our Constitutional democracy and our standing in the world that is rapidly sinking into the mire of darkness that is its embrace of human degradation.
11
The idea that confirming Gina Haspel was preferable to the possibility that Trump would nominate an even more dubious nominee is absurd.
This woman violated law by destroying evidence of CIA torture, which the US signed the UN torture treaty in 1988 and ratified in 1994.
The senators who voted for her confirmation apparently never heard of the internationally nullified "just obeying orders" defense, or simple diverted their eyes and consciences.
3
At Belsen in 1945; in Nuremberg in 1946; in Krakow in 1947; and at many subsequent trials including more recently at The Hague, the bureaucratic enablers of murder and torture, and the camp commanders responsible for the execution of their orders, were made to answer for their crimes and duly punished.
In Trump’s America, such roles qualify you for promotion to high office.
I hang my head in shame.
7
Now she has to answer to Donald Trump. She'll soon have a much better understanding of what is and is not torture.
1
Please list all those who voted to confirm her nomination so we will have the option of voting them out.
2
That we tortured, hot bloodedly, in the aftermath of a traumatic event like 9-11 is one thing. It was wrong and it was bad enough, but somewhat understandable. But that we now, in cold blood, are accepting torture in this way is senseless and nauseating.
And it's shameful.
3
Haspel wasn't simply refusing to denounce torture, she was refusing to throw her staff and colleagues under the bus for something that their nation had asked of them in a time of war. That's called good leadership. It's rather difficult to lead people who have no trust in you. Are we so removed from the appearance of good leadership that we've forgotten how to identify it? That seems a rather grave problem for our nation.
16
It seems like she is a very good leader.
The question you have to ask yourself is *where* she is leading her staff and colleagues?
6
Under the current POTUS my concern is where she CAN lead them.
At least today.
Next Thursday is the distant future.
A simple litmus test is not too much to ask. Do our leaders also refuse to denounce sexual assault? Assassination? Leaders are more valuable when they establish the lines we do not cross, than when they excuse the lines crossed. People will trust that much more.
6
May 17, 2018
CIA Director confirmation is a tremendous success for the kind of world that needs the best minds to operate with results for the world needs to know the C.I.A. is fully operative and will serve the interest of what is best for America and its citizens and indeed global partners to solve problems by means of historic necessities and indeed reporting to the Congress as needed.
jja Manhattan, N.Y
1
Director Haspel, I promise on my father's grave never to say another bad thing about you and I strongly encourage everyone commenting on this article to think twice about what they say while "Wonderful Gina" is in charge of the most powerful and ruthless intelligence agency the world has ever seen.
2
Thank goodness President Obama took prosecuting CIA operatives off the table during his presidency. That sure was a smart thing for him to have done.
2
"a lifetime commitment to the agency can and will be rewarded"
The word commitment has taken on some very negative connotations.
4
The CIA is above the law.
Just how terrifying this fact is, just how much it will cost western democracy and the rule of law, has yet to be revealed. What was done—with impunity in the secret prisons to people whose human rights didn’t count—will be visited upon Americans like you and me, not for alleged acts of terrorism or subversion, but for exercising our right to challenge the prerogatives of elites, to speak and assemble freely, to praise the God of our choosing.
We will rue the day.
But the truth cannot be suppressed indefinitely, as long as there are courageous people who place principle above self interest, ethics above pragmatism, ideals above loyalty. We have a shot of reclaiming ourselves and returning to our prodigal home as long as there are people who are willing to stick their necks out and proclaim, “enough is enough.”
We were better than this.
5
Re Haspel and torture: She listened to legal advice, from multiple supposed experts, regarding whether or not waterboarding is "torture," all of whom said it was not prohibited under international conventions.
She has, in Congress, stated her own position on that treatment. She was not in a position, given the legal advice and the proximity of 9/11, to dispute the advice she was given then.
She is, I believe, both a fundamentally good person -- whatever that means in the world of espionage -- and a person competent to lead the CIA.
Let it go.
1
Yeah, I need this crazy mixed up world who is to say whether torture is good or bad, especially if you are just obeying orders and listening to lawyers and what not. The Cheney Administration set such a high standard for morality and decency after all. What did those silly Nuremberg trials have to do with anything anyway?
2
Absolute proof that SOME Women can be just as evil as SOME Men. First time I've ever written THAT, but entirely appropriate. This is a sad day for decency, and a great day of tyrants. Seriously.
3
So let me see if I have this right . We don't mention Haspel as the first woman ever to lead one of the most important agencies on the planet if we disagree with her policies(torture was not her policy) , have reservations of her record(still not her policy) or it was instigated by the Trump administration . If these conditions are met , then we shelve the women's progress card . How on earth do you still wonder what went wrong in 2016 with this jaw dropping hypocrisy is allowed to stand?
15
No, you don’t have it right. Gina has the same right to professional advancement as any male war criminal is what you are trying to say.
18
Try to remember that day in September...
2
I am relieved that Ms. Haspel's nomination has been confirmed and not because I am pro-torture. In fact, I am sickened by many actions taken on behalf of this country during the Bush/Cheney years but the last thing we need now is a politicized CIA Director. Haspel is as far from "politicized" as it gets. Haspel could not answer the politicized and loaded question put to her during the confirmation process: "is torture immoral?" without compromising the integrity of the agency & her colleagues. Furthermore, since when have we asked high-ranking government officials to take action on the basis of whether they find something "immoral," without regard to context? Would we demand that a soldier suffering from PTSD affirm that killing is immoral? what about lying and deception? Aren't these actions also "immoral"? We can have a legitimate debate about whether we should even still have a CIA but let's not kid ourselves. It would be naïve to think that the CIA does not lie, deceive and kill when necessary to protect the interests of the United States. Knowing that our own President has called for more torture, I would much rather have in place a CIA Director who has been around the block and understands first hand why torture is the wrong course than a Director who is likely to act out of political loyalty and ambition or self-preservation.
5
two simple a view I'm afraid Lynn; I don't see how the torturing of detainees is protecting the interests of the united states. I don't see how the deliberate destruction of evidence after being caught is protecting the interests of the United States; she made America a giant hypocrite (though the US has always been good at being two-faced) when it comes to condemning torture from other countries, and endangering our own soldiers if they get caught by enemies who may want to return the favor.
Can we be sure she won't try and cover up other atrocities committed in our name in the future? Absolutely not.
6
Do you really believe that Haspel’s renunciation in her letter to the Committee was anything other than an act of “ambition or self-preservation,” or that she sincerely believes that what she euphemistically referred to therein as “enhanced interrogation techniques” are wrong?
The fact that she was so evasive that she wouldn’t use the word “torture” instead says a lot. I’m betting that, given the order, she’d do it again. Why? In her mind, it’s not torture.
3
Compromising the integrity of the CIA? Yeah, that ship has sailed. Seriously, words like integrity are supposed to mean something.
1
Six democrats voted in favor of this. I will be staying home this November and encouraging everyone I know to do the same. the Democrats have shown that they will enable Trump every step of the way if they think it'll win them an election.
10
Six voting yes is not 'all'. Staying home in November is not a protest. Its merely giving up on democratic participation.
2
Please realize that not voting against the Republicans is a vote for Trump. Period.
6
And that helps how? And benefits whom?
6
". . . it remains to be seen how Ms. Haspel will get along with Mr. Trump . . ."
She will "get along" exactly as well as she wants to "get along."
And Trump won't know any different.
2
It's so difficult to trust anyone in Washington these days, especially a Trump appointee with a work history blocked from public view and no glimpse of her personality or character. Reading this just made me feel dejected.
If she does her job according to the law, she'll get fired. Even if she does it by the book of Trump, she could still get fired. And no one knows her level of ethics or respect for human rights.
I am very worried about the U.S. bungling their pulling out of the Iran Iran accord and starting a war with Iran (supported by Netanyahu and John Bolton).
Equally, I worry that the other signatories to the accord, mainly the European Union, will not hold fast to the accord.
We live here, and have far more risk than any American across the Atlantic.
5
Don't forget John - first strike - Bolton. Nuclear war in the Korean peninsula looks like it's back on the table.
2
To Amaratha -- he's mentioned above as a possible provocateur of war against Iran. But yes, he has moved steadily to the fringe right over his career, or is just letting show that which has always existed.
Trump talks a big game. He bullies and harangues. I don't know if he is really a racist, or playing a part to get votes. If he's role playing, he's done a good job of it.
But with a zealot like Bolton, who doubtless is pushing Trump to embrace his hard-core, "starve 'em, bomb'em, but never negotiate with 'em" agenda, as regards Iran and North Korea, it's possible they could start a war with Iran, even with all the other signatories of the accord still backing it.
The North Koreans find John Bolton and his methods repugnant. Disarmament has to be negotiated with respect and delicacy, which are two arrows Bolton doesn't have in his quiver.
Trump can perhaps go alone, with frequent calls to Bolton. Or maybe, somewhere in the State Dept., there still exists a talented diplomat who could handle the negotiation.
It seems clear that the wishes and voices of opposition Politicians as well as of the majority of Americans carry no weight nor influence on the slim majority of Republicans who hold power in Congress.
Nor do previous rules, understandings, transparency and bi-partisan agreements are passed unless the outcome is one that only the party in power wants to be enacted and pushed through.
In fact, the American people and those Congress people and Senators not in agreement with the Republican Party and its leaders will be considered not even Republican bills not suitable will even go to vote .Regardless of what anyone else wants it will be prevented from being given the opportunity to be voted on if it is not what the leadership wants or agrees on...All of this group of Politicians and American Voters...may as well not bother to voice or have a say on what they want...because they will not get anything other than what one group pf Politicians want to happen, many of which are the things needs and wants only of a select group of people or companies who will pay and support those Politicians to pass: laws and legislation that benefits justthem, often regardless of the many people who may be hurt or hindered by their passing and uptake.
No Democracy operates like this in other developed countries But here, the Voters wishes and the people who represent them are either powerless or unwilling to have their needs or interests met.
Maybe because it is no longer a Democracy.
14
The Republicans control all branches of the government, that is not a slim margin, elections hVe consequences...
2
We are ruled by a fascist dictatorship.
This vote of approval indicates a lack of respect for the conversation about the invalidity of torture as a resource. In addition, this shows a lack of interest in having CIA leadership with a clean record. The voicing of disapproval over Haspel's record of torture was just for effect, not purpose.
6
Your Democratic Party in action. Supplying the necessary votes for the torturer, they will dishonestly claim they opposed her nomination. Rinse repeat.
18
Two Republicans were no votes. My sorry week dems, four voting for the torturer. This could have been a huge voter turnout motivator.
Instead sorrow and dismay at the washed up and out of step party apparatchiks. I’ve lost any faith in them and my will to volunteer myself this cycle like I’ve done for decades.
Bye bye.
12
Please don't throw the future of our country out because we're so poorly represented. We have to keep on and not shut up or disappear. Saying bye is handing over any chance for making change.
2
Torture is inhumane period, and its been shown - repeatedly - to be ineffective. However, what I find truly upsetting about confirming this person is that she was responsible for the willful destruction of evidence with respect to the torture performed by her subordinates. Willful destruction of evidence!!! So she may never condone torture again, but what about the other ethically-challenged behaviors an intelligence agency may do - if she's willing to destroy evidence, how will we know what's going on in the CIA? No thanks to the Senators voting for her confirmation who didn't follow up on that line of questioning.
33
And not one person said, “But what about those e-mails?” “How is the destruction of evidence in your case any different from what Hillary allegedly did? Some Americans did not vote for Hillary over this very same issue. Why should we “vote” for you?”
1
A widely respected and venerable veteran of the agency she's now leading, Haspel very much remains a classified mystery. But, I'm willing to accept her, for now, as the next best thing to Artificial Intelligence for replacing mentally corrupt politicians. A refreshing change, I hope.
4
She's the best person for the position. She wasn't in charge when they instigated it. She followed orders and approved regs for it. Irregardless that was then, this is now. My son went in the day after and the thinking was much different then and all the "now" moral pols were screaming for more. Torture is not good for anyone. Comparing what they do, to what we did in a few cases, is laughable. Period.
5
" She followed orders"
Where have we heard that before?
1
I am so incredibly disappointed in this Congress. A known torturer who illegally got rid of evidence of that torture is strutting around now as the new head of the C.I.A. and she did it with the help of the Democrats. I didn't think I could be any more ashamed of our our country's lawmakers, but today I am. Money and greed are the only things these politicians care about.
34
And power.................I am so hoping my friend, steeped in Eastern philosophy is correct when he says,
"Those that the gods would destroy, first they make made with power."
Now she's in a position to destroy even more evidence!
1
Very good. A very good decision, indeed. Another triumph for the Trump Administration.
7
Regardless of her letter or the other details, what should also be of concern is the history of these nominees, their positions, and how the rest of the world perceives our country's choices.
Time and again, we seem to be our own best terrorist recruiting poster.
16
How long will it take before Ms. Haspel's Oval Office boss/bully tests her confirmation hearing resolve not to return the C.I.A. to the bad old days of torture and secret foreign prisons?
4
The moment after she's sworn in, if that long.
1
I used to argue that, despite its abuses, American power was better than a vacuum in its place. No more. Torture, warmongering, unilateral actions, strong-arming allies, undermining of international laws, norms and institutions--these are not bugs but features of American power today. Why should the world look to these United States with anything but skepticism and distrust?
30
Great. Just what we need, a person in charge of CIA who has made a career of deceit who evidently thought nothing would be wrong with rendition and torture but after the fact, oops my bad, it didn't work. Any restitution for those victims? And, evidently voted for by senators too desperate to secure their privileged seats to have the gumption to oppose her. Democracy indeed...
13
After WW2 we and our allies executed hundreds for doing what Haspel did. Japanese were executed specifically for waterboarding. The Senate refuses to concede that a bureaucratically effective monster is still a monster. This is a shameful, immoral, hypocritical, action and makes a mockery of of the post war tribunals and their grave conclusions. With this confirmation we are staring into the abyss of fascism.
65
We don't know if this career cypher is "effective." There is nothing on the record to show that she has been.
Truly the End of the American Empire as we knew it; gone. Poof!
1
Well this won't do anything to raise our moral standing in the world. But then again, it seems right for this time and presidency.
9
What moral standing do we have left? Trump has pretty much shattered what we had.
1
"Senate Confirms Gina Haspel to Lead C.I.A. Despite Torture Concerns"
Translation: "Evil, heartless, torture-loving grandma—who defiantly and illegally destroyed evidence—shamefully accepts position as new Trump Top Torturer"
Another in a seemingness endless sad day for this great 240-year-old democratic republic. With the GOP's heads in the sand and their hearts not even functioning, the "democratic" part of our republic is fast fading.
9
“will send a signal to the current work force and to the work force of the future that a lifetime commitment to the agency can and will be rewarded,”
Yeah right! The work force will be rewarded even if the lifetime commitment involves torturing other human beings. These confirmation hearings are a joke and the Democrats that voted for Haspel are just as bad as the GOP they constantly complain about.
14
Senator McCain had it just right on this pick.
24
As an admirer of Sen. Mark Warner I can only guess as to why he voted for this woman of torture. Perhaps he felt she would be far better than subsequent candidates for the job.
1
This is just another example of how the country is no longer a nation of laws. Haspel destroyed the evidence, but she is rewarded anyway? She can always destroy future evidence again. This is a sham.
105
Yeah, but remember, if there’s a crushed phone or missing e-mail on the Democrat side, that’s totally criminal behavior.
4
It's who we are as a nation.
2
Vote count? Which Dems voted for?
67
Dems voting FOR:
Joe Manchin, West Virginia
Heidi Heitkamp,North Dakota
Joe Donnelly, Indiana
Bill Nelson, Florida
Jeanne Shaheen, New Hampshire
Mark Warner, Virginia.
Several are DINOs of long-standing, and "most of whom are up for re-election this November in states Trump won handily in 2016", according to one source.
In other words, a vote FOR a torturer to head the CIA is good for your standing in the polls?
Only Repubs voting AGAINST were:
Jeff Flake, Arizona
Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky
I disagree with almost Rand Paul says and stands for, but I applaud his vote on this.
Too bad, SIX "Democrats" are such utter "Profiles in Cowardice" and so willing to make the USA complicit in war-crimes and outrages that shame our nation before the world!
18
More of the same from our spineless Democrats!
4
What was the vote? I hate stories like this that fail to include these pertinent facts. In addition to the numbers, I think it would be pertinent to know the names of those Democrats who voted to confirm.
103
Need the names of all who voted. There are at least a few Republicans who didn't vote for her or they wouldn't have needed some Democrats. There are some Republicans with a conscience.
10
From Slate:
Two of the Senate’s 51 Republicans—Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul—voted against Haspel. Arizona Sen. John McCain was absent for medical reasons but said previously that Haspel should not be confirmed. Six Democrats—Indiana Sen. Joe Donnelly, North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson, New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, and Virginia Sen. Mark Warner—voted to confirm her.
6
Democrats in title only. Shame on them!!
It was disappointing to get no concrete answer about whether Haspel was in charge of the Thai CIA site where Fatima Boudchar was tortured. (See Boudchar's NYT op-ed "I Have a Few Questions for Gina Haspel").
Haspel has said that she regrets, in retrospect, how aggressively some operatives acted to protect America. But it would have been helpful for Congress to seek some clarity.
In order to protect America, how many pregnant women should be abducted and tortured in a secret CIA-run prison in Thailand? Was one too few? Does Haspel regret that she did not arrange for the abduction and torture of more pregnant women? Or was one too many? Does Haspel share the UK government's regret about what her staff did to Boudchar?
Or was one exactly the right number? Does Haspel intend to take future actions which involve the abduction and torture of approximately one pregnant woman per year? Is that the right number?
These are questions that would have been helpful to understand as the nation's lawmakers chose their next spymaster.
52
Because she ordered the destruction of the video tapes, we'll never know - now will we?
4
Well, that sends a message to the world, doesn't it?
130
Indeed. Who does it serve to have someone lead the CIA who does not have the trust of U.S. allies? Russia, of course. Trump, on the hook to Russia, is proving by the day Putin invested well. But why so many Senators bought the story and voted for Haspel--who's broken U.S. laws and torched the Geneva Convention--defies imagination. This is a shameful move which will come back to haunt them.
2
Torture should be an act that remains redemption-proof, or at least that doesn't get a free redemption without even having to seek it. This confirmation is a shame for the country and a stain on the already quite blotchy Senate. Ms. Haspel's competence is irrelevant given her past. Instead, just like Bybee and Woo, she has been rewarded for her participation in evil.
76
"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood clean from my hand?” lamented Macbeth, “No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red.”
Whatever one feels about Ms. Haspel’s confirmation, she will likely find the stain that association with Donald Trump leaves on one’s reputation is not so easily washed away.
67
Agreed, after Trump is related to the trash heap of history, one way or another, his toadies will have that stain on them forever.
9
Gina Haspel comes pre-stained by CIA torture and (worse) her unbelievable, unforgivable cover-up. Obstruction of justice is no obstacle to leading Trump's CIA.
2
Utterly disgraceful and entirely consistent with Republican dominated politics.
62
Let’s see how it works when Trump starts asking her to sneak around, which may end up fitting her definition of “immoral”.
15
I no longer feel proud of being an American. It’s over, America. It’s all over.
73
Lucy - One of the best things about the United States is that when one is so disheartened with being an American one can leave, without the necessity of an exit visa.
4
You’re right, Tired.
But people who care about this country, despite its flaws, are unafraid to look at those flaws and try to correct them.
After all, blind loyalty is downright useless.
Valerie - She wrote "it's over America," does that sound like someone who wants to help? Blind loyalty is useless, so is giving up!
What was the vote. Your story lacks this fact, as well as the names of Democrats who voted for her, other that Warner. This is not a well written story.
39
Women are marching into the Trump cabinet and breaking the glass ceiling. Gina Haspel the first woman to be able to do what only men have done before is a great victory for women. With a distinguished career of 33 years in the CIA, she is the first woman to do what was previously thought to be a man's job. Congratulations Ms Haspel, hope you can demonstrate that intelligence can be gathered without torture or human rights abuses. Sorry John McCain you are not dying and hope you live long but you alone don't get to decide who should be the head of CIA or accept your military solutions to every problem area of the world where surge could only result in greater loss of lives.
18
Right! We've got Betsy Blackwater, Kristen JailTheKids, Linda Wrestling, and Elaine McConnell, and now Gina Water(board). We're sure making history with the greatest picks any President in history made.
Women like those might make me wish for more men. Ouch.
16
Regardless of her gender, congratulations are definitely not in order. Ms. Haspel supervised a site where foreign nationals were tortured under interrogation by US government officials, then destroyed the best available evidence of those interrogations. Her appointment simply demonstrates that indifference to the rule of law is hardly the exclusive purview of men.
32
A classic can't see the forest for the trees argument.
5
What was the actual vote, the yeas and nays? Which Senators voted to support the nominee?
38
Excellent news. We need more like her in government. Congratulations!
10
It's not so much Trump. When will this nightmare end where we elect people who put people into top jobs that normal people, if we had that issue, would be eliminated from consideration. All of the people who voted on this person should be voted out of office.
35
What an inspiration to young women all over the world. Great work, everyone!
6
Haspel's confirmation sends the message that the CIA can do whatever it wants to do wherever it wants to do it with impunity. Such an organization has no place in a free society, but a majority of the Senate has just endorsed it. In this and other ways we seem to living in the twilight of the American republic.
49
The best line of this whole fiasco: "Twilight of the American republic"...........
The Republic is dead, has been for a while.
I guess this proves that being part of torturing combatants is a good career move, especially if you seek a job in the Trump Administration. The best we can hope for is a quick end to Trump's run in 2020, and a return to civility and honest government when the current holders of high-level government positions are swept away along with this corrupt president.
16
While her past is certainly troubling, and would normally be disqualifying, we live in abnormal times. As many non-political professional civil servants as can be brought to bear in this aberrant administration offer at least some hope that the sycophants around Trump can be resisted. As the professionals of our intel and law enforcement are belittled by the occupant of the WH, these are the folks that will push back... hopefully.
1
Since Trump has become President, friends have asked me, "has he done even one thing that you approve of?" Well, until the nomination of Gina Haspel, my answer has been a resounding NO. But now, I have to say, I think he stumbled into a pretty good pick with Haspel--despite doing it for all of the wrong reasons.
It took me a while to see it this way for sure, but, for once, we have a pick who is actually well qualified for the position for which they've been nominated. And, importantly, she seems to have the support of the organization she's going to lead. The torture implications are very bad, for sure. That can't be understated. But I was satisfied with the answers she gave in her confirmation interviews, and ironically, it was listening to this publication's "The Daily" podcast that tipped me into a favorable opinion of her.
But, of course, in the age of Trump our expectations are so low that almost any pick who isn't a completely radicalized, parasitical ignoramus is a breath of fresh air.
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"Only the best torturers and destroyers of evidence...."
When will this Trumpian nightmare ever end ?
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"When will this Trumpian nightmare ever end?" Simple: Bone up the Constitution and its ammendment. That may ease your stress.
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