Listen, we all know that the king is mad, paranoid, naked, and was really never that bright to start. We all know that the courtiers jockey for his favor. That the White House is now nothing but nonstop palace intrigue at a bounce castle full of clowns.
But every time you profile the successful maneuvers of one of the (barely, not actually) decent courtiers, the mad king flies into a rage, furious at the idea that he is being managed, and dismisses that particular toady.
We keep losing the courtiers that had professionalism or the public interest - however halfheartedly - among their goals. We are left with zealous nightmare weasels like Miller, sociopathic industry opportunists who never blink or feel shame, and a growing corps of utter morons who follow Trump with the whole-hearted loyalty of the empty headed.
For the love of God, NYT, could you stop profiling people?
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You need to be aware that the CIA directors claim that ducks and children were injured is being disputed. This means your reporting could be incorrect. It also points to a bigger issue, that the CIA is lying to the President to support Russia sanctions.
"There were no reports of any children affected by 'Novichok' nor were their any reports of dead ducks. In the official storyline the Skripals, before visiting a restaurant, fed bread to ducks at a pond in the Queen Elizabeth Gardens in Salisbury. They also gave duck-bread to three children to do the same. The children were examined and their blood was tested. No poison was found and none of them fell ill. No duck died. (The duck feeding episode also disproves the claim that the Skripals were poisoned by touching a door handle.)"
"If the NYT piece is correct, the CIA director, in cooperation with the British government, lied to Trump about the incident. Their aim was to sabotage Trump's announced policy of better relations with Russia. The ruse worked.” https://www.moonofalabama.org/2019/04/cia-director-used-fake-skripal-incident-photos-to-manipulate-trump.html#more
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@Sylvia I wonder whether even Gina Haspel knew the ducks and story about children were fake.
She only hands on information upwards, she doesn't investigate.
More to the point, why were some CIA specialists so keen that the President bought the story? Perhaps because they knew of the link between Skripal and his MI6 and business colleague, Christopher Steele and may have been involved in its research? Perhaps they had a motive,
4
To bolster my question regarding the accuracy of the photo's used to persuade President Trump--I point to the letter sent to the Times of London by "...The consultant in emergency medicine at Salisbury hospital wrote to The Times, shortly after the Skripal incident. His choice of words was odd, and some have said they indicate no novichok poisoning occurred. Leaving that to one side, his letter certainly puts paid to the idea that more than three people (the Skripals and the policeman, DCI Bailey) were poisoned." https://www.onaquietday.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/DocSaysNoNerveAgentInSalisbury.jpg
Refer to comment to the article referenced in my previous comment.
From my memory of this incident I also don't recall ducks or children being poisoned. As I said, if this is the case, the bigger story is whether the CIA director lied to the president.
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Give me two reasons Trump should trust the CIA or the overly broad collection of "intelligence" agencies after their cabal to prevent him from the Republican nomination, or the Presidency and the insane and illegal behavior of these agencies after he was inaugurated. Couple that with their incredible failure on Iraq, a failure to forecast Russian behavior in Crimea or Syria, or the agencies cooperation with pro Hillary and anti Trump elements of the Ukrainian government prior to, during and subsequent to the 2016 election. Please, just two reasons. Perhaps AG Barr will provide all of those reasons. Pass the popcorn. The show is just beginning.
6
mmmm, lots of drama here. truly entertaining, even a twist of internal intrigue. how does one level of intelligence affect the other, and does it do anything meaningful in the process? the POTUS is temporary, will be a memory not too long into the future. if she can remain intact and not scare the man to do the unthinkable, she may actually deserve some forgiveness for her overseas escapades. not that she was the only one involved in as much of the brutality that transpired anyway, shes just another cog in the machine of human depravity that surfaces on many historical occasions. distraction seems to be part of the POTUS methodology, at least she was keen enough to release that tidbit of national security info... not that other nations were unaware of it. better we all let the time pass, stay focused on what really stems the flow of bad choices/decisions for the states that are willing to agree on matters of real importance.
Honestly, the headline is wrong.
He almost never listens, and only when he feels the speaker is helping him ignore anything that neither strokes his vanity, encourages division, or harms his "enemies" (who are legion).
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Bottom line is we have someone as president who is not fit for the job.
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And there it is - fake news. The NY Times reporter never corrects the fact that ducks or children were not poisoned in the incident. The photo caption is worse. The children were tested and were found to be fine. The headline of the story should be CIA feeding lies to the President.
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“Principles”?
She is an architect of torture.
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I found the picture of Trump hugging and kissing Haspel horrifying. He's leaning in enthusiasticly while her body language is showing she's tolerating it to stay on his good side. In words and actions, Haspel is selling her soul here.
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@LL I think she sold her soul when she oversaw torture. Maybe before that, too, but hey.
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@Isaac
I agree.
2
"He's [Trump] leaning in enthusiasticly while her [Haspel's] body language is showing she's tolerating it to stay on his good side."
That still photo is a lie. Haspel approached Trump, and Pompeo did the same thing.
Although partially obscured, Pence did not (you need to watch carefully -- Pence never puts his left hand on Haspel's back).
Watch the video on YouTube starting at 22:40: "WATCH: President Trump attends swearing in of CIA Director" (PBS NewsHour, Streamed live on May 21, 2018)
This article jeopardizes the relationship between Ms. Haspel and the President and only makes it harder for her to get him to listen to reason. Why, NY Times, do you lower yourselves to the level of a gossip rag and undermine the efforts of career professionals to persuade the President to listen to the facts, rather than indulge in his own fantasies.
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@LLB The article fails to mention that no ducks were found to be poisoned and the children were tested and were fine. Those are the facts.
5
Regardless whether the current president absorbs the evidence presented the Agency has a mission to gather the information and to inform decision makers. The president isn't the only customer of the possible $15 billion of work performed by the CIA.
The capacity to absorb and evaluate intelligence information is one measure of the president's decision-making. In extremely complex, dynamic situations no single point of view can be declared to be the Truth.
Many of Trump's decisions and offered justifications run counter to the evidence offered. The decisions themselves also change the situation sometimes invalidating gathered evidence and conclusions. Trump can succeed because the U.S. is very powerful and his mistakes are often fixed by the administrative systems that are affected.
Thus far Trump has not had to face a major crisis where intelligence could determine success or survival. We can hope that Haspel and the rest of the team retain their professional standards and the integrity of agency to serve the country when that hour arrives when the president needs the capacity to absorb intelligence.
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So the president does "listen" he is just not a puppet of the CIA director. And yes it would annoying to have any flies in the White House, even on in my house gets hunted down. How could anybody allow flies in the White House.
Former UK intel agent Christopher Steele gathered an amazing amount of info on Trump in a stunningly short period of time in 2016.
To consider that Trump had to have been popping up periodically on US intel screens since he took his first trip to the USSR in the 80s...and, they let him get this far and play along with him to this day....
They're not what I call patriots.
5
""he appeared distracted. Houseflies buzzing around the Oval Office were drawing his attention, and ire."
I'm sorry but I had to laugh when I read this
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"I'm sorry but I had to laugh when I read this"
It would be funny except that the "two officials familiar with the episode" appear to be more interested in making the President look foolish than in saying anything factual.
That anonymously sourced anecdote confirms that there is indeed a "deep state" and that the Times is willing to enable it.
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@PWF or...it's an example of the short attention span and high distractibility of our President.
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Gina Haspel is one of those people I'd really like to have dinner with. You know she's fascinating as heck. No clue what her ratio of dark to light is, but she is super intriguing.
6
Gina Haspel isn't a check on Donald Trump because she's as lawless as he is.
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The usual horde of comments about how the president has to be babysat into doing the "right thing."
Does it matter that there were no dead ducks and sick children? That the officials lied to the president to get him to support their position, rather than carrying out the elected president's preferred policies?
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@Caliman
oh, please, Trump's policies?! This man's only focus is himself and being loved by his base and dictators.
6
It is fascinating to see how the Times is handling -- one might say balancing -- Trump's idiotic and possibly treasonous rejection of our intelligence agencies' findings by filing a somewhat laudatory piece on Ms. Haspel, who was knee-deep in extraordinary rendition and torture under Bush II.
This does not reflect well on either individual. However, it is a measure of how far we've descended into the rabbit hole with Trump and his severely limited worldview that the Times feels it necessary to remind us of the CIA's role and of the people who seek to fulfill it.
If it has any value, it is that it shows Ms. Haspel is still "in the room" even if she cannot influence Trump's unexplained (publicly) favoring of Russian and Saudi Arabia over her agency's findings.
I'd be surprised if she doesn't know the details behind the ludicrous public displays that Trump has made to humiliate America. His performance with Putin, in public and behind closed doors; his disinterest in punishing the Saudi prince, but the news that Kushner is pushing to provide the Saudis with nuclear technology; should all concern us.
Ms. Haspel is on a fool's errand, sorry to say.
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Trump is more and more like Nikita Kruschev - the only ousted general secretary of Soviet Union. They did oust him, but never recovered from the damage Nikita inflicted on country. Let’s hope there’s hope for this country. (It is) Sad indeed that Americans are so involved in partisanship they don’t see the big picture.
7
I always feel a little mournful when I read articles like today's profile of Gina Haspel, particularly the spotlight on her tactics and her relationship with the President. One thing that seems central to intelligence work is the protection of "sources and methods". The Times in its apparent admiration and journalistic curiosity has jeopardized both, by detailing: 1) how Director Haspel 'works' the President, even though she denies it, and 2) that members of her senior intelligence team are talking to the press, which he may end up pointing to later as evidence that the so-called "Deep State" is leaking, trying to manipulate him and U.S. ambassadors, and may be untrustworthy. It would be surprising to me if Gina Haspel's life and very important work are made easier rather than harder by today's article. The tragedy is that the intra-administration difficulties anyone can see coming were just as visible before publication as they are right now using simple common sense.
3
Haspel is in my thoughts a lot as I read Unbroken, namely the huge middle section where WW II bomber crewman Zamperini endures years of torture in multiple POW camps. Japan would still be our worst enemies today if Americans really knew the half of what our greatest generation were subjected to, waterboarding being the least of it. There seems no bottom to the personal bodily cruelty humans are capable of given certain cultural conditions.
Even allowing for the ruthlessness of war, part of the urgency I feel with 2020 is cleaning house of the likes of Haspel and a president without a care for the human cost of his proxy war. "Our friends, the Saudis!"
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"... if Americans really knew the half of what our greatest generation were subjected to ..."
You must not read much war literature, of which there is plenty.
Look for books on the Bataan Death March or the Burma Railway. And while you are at it, look for some books on the atomic bombings of Japan from the Japanese perspective.
3
Now, here is a person/woman I could fully support for President.
Impressive woman.
@EJ. the torturer in chief? What America am I living in?
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What I find disconcerting is the knowledge that foreign leaders- including ex-KGB agent Putin- are using the same skills to manipulate Trump. He's an easy mark.
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Now all we need is for someone to show Trump pictures of the ducks that died because they lost health insurance.
14
If every single time Gina Haspel's name comes up, people respond by loudly rejecting the unconscionable torture of waterboarding (and the far worse stuff they made sure was erased), perhaps we can get to a place with a little more justice in the world.
Well, at least that's one more comment against the dangerous numbing of a forgetful electorate.
11
Not bad at keeping her job, not effective at keeping us safe.
Witness Trump’s handover of ME policy to Putin and Netanyahu - a recipe for new US misadventures and earth-shaking foreign policy disasters.
The “strategy” throws Kurdish and Afghan allies under the bus; pressures for a new major-league confrontation with a treaty-denuclearized Iran with the objective of regime change; and ends with the giant cherry on top: the annexation of the Jerusalem, the Golan and the West Bank into an apartheid, for-Jews-only, Greater Israel.
While Putin, Netanyhu and some Fox News pundits may enjoy Trump’s work, the fires lit by this administration on her watch will likely cost us a heavy price in aggravating Mid East hostility, instability, and terrorism for decades to come.
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@Honestywithoutmercy You are unfair, Russia has helped the US to get out of the "Syrian Scam" preserving its reputation. And now Russia has helped to prevent another senseless us military invasion of Venezuela, Venezuelan oil - a sweet piece, but the invasion of Iraq or the "Libyan bombing" did not help the US to solve the problem with oil, but only created new problems.
3
"A former Russian intelligence officer, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter were poisoned last year in Britain in a slipshod attack that also sickened children, killed ducks and required careful cleanup.Credit"
This is wrong and you need to provide evidence when publishing something like it. Dr. Stephen Davies of the NHS declared that besides the two Skripals and the police officer, no others were contaminated.
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@BartoloIt's journalistic malpractice to be sure. Apparently the writers are going off a tabloid headline in the Mirror that stated three children were taken to the hospital. Of course, in the text of that article it states the children were given the "all-clear." As for the ducks, there has never been a previous report of dead ducks despite many having scoffed at the park bench theory precisely because the children and ducks had been fine.
3
Gail, this is another of the numerous back and fourths of the Skripal narrative. "Facts" are invented willy nilly and then never seen again.
Just like the two Skripals for that matter. At some point their fate will be revealed.
As I said below, shortly after the first news, Dr Stephen Davies said that only three individuals were contaminated.
As leaders, I would expect that our president and SoS would be men of probity; thoughtful and open-minded. With these characteristics an advisor would not necessarily need to "learn to talk with them". The advisor should be able to discuss issues or facts directly and with frankness.
Yet, here we are suffering the need to package reality for Pompeo and our excuse for a president and the fact that Gina Haspel can do it is seen as an accomplishment.
If you're trying to cheer me up, it ain't working.
58
This woman should be in prison for running the illegal torture program. Why has she not been indicted?
44
Because that has been tolerated since Bush. She was just carrying out orders.
4
Trump only wants to hear from folks who praise him witness his cabinet meeting where each official offers thanks for being in the presence of the greatest leader the world has ever known , Our adversaries and dictators around the world know the way to reach Trump is to say he is brilliant gorgeous a living god they are lucky to meet, Trump believes Putin over his own intel agencies and feels he knows more than our generals this combination of willful ignorance and narcissism puts our national security at risk. The Donald does not really care as his only concern is himself and his image and his interests ,so easy to compromise and now no restraints in the oval office.
19
The picture (with the story) of Trump huggging and kissing Haspel is creepy.
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@Peter
I visibly cringed when that photo came up; so did my co-worker and my boss!
4
Trump does not tell "inaccuracies." He Tells Lies!
There is a big difference and the more people who call him out, the better.
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Lying is a conscious act. I say he confabulates (look it up), which is scarier still.
6
Haven't they learned yet? Trump does not listen to anyone who does not parrot his own line. And he is so ignorant and stupid that he does not know he is ignorant and stupid.
43
Spy skills? Don’t you mean supervisor of torture skills? Why doesn’t she try waterboarding Trump?
32
"Spy skills?"
In her CIA career, Haspel has worked undercover and as a station chief. That makes her a REAL spy, unlike Pompeo.
6
Trump and spy skills ? Boris and Natasha, and not in a good way.
Seriously.
12
Look at what we have become, once unquestionably the greatest nation on Earth and the inspiration for the hopeful everywhere. To require photos of dead ducks to convince the President of the United States that we must support Great Britain, our strongest ally, in taking action in response to Russian atrocities on British soil pretty well sums it up.
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@Blue State you became that since the moment that you decided to force your external policies to other countries without their consent, i.e from the beginning of the Cold War. I wonder what kind of world we would live in if some other country practiced such methods, let's say, France.
3
Trump looks to the CIA to brand his image, so it is no surprise that hostages in foreign hands are regarded as high value. The cia can do the hard work to rescue them for the sole purpose of making trump a tough guy hero. The culture of patriotism is being perverted by the highest office. As long as hostages are the highest priority I wonder what our enemies will do to leverage this determination.
10
"[D/CIA Haspel] sent it to Mr. Trump: flypaper."
It is the job of the Chief Usher to maintain the White House, not the CIA director. A call to the Chief Usher would have been more politically astute.
Too bad the Times missed a chance to explain how the White House is organized.
7
Oh please. Trump has nothing but contempt for anyone other than himself and that goes double for women. Get real.
28
Does anyone find it scary that cabinet secretaries and other top administrative officials must try to influence the president's behavior like school administrators trying to convince a fourth grader to put down an assault rifle?
93
I guess that Trump can have a different opinion or idea just as no two Democrats running for President have the same ideas. But who is correct in either situation?
1
@Richard Winchester
Daniel Patrick Moynihan is often quoted especially since the election of 2016: "You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”
Not just the CIA but people in other areas with knowledge, experience and expertise present information to DJT and he frequently just ignores it, preferring to go with his fact free and knowledge free "gut."
I would say that those who are basing their opinions on actual facts stand a much higher likelihood of being correct than someone relying on whatever inane thought pops into his head at that moment.
7
Rumor has it that she has comic book artists do drawings of situations so Trump can understand better.
14
I almost wish this article hadn't been written, since it, or its headline, will undermine Trump's confidence in Haspel.
Like so much in the Trump presidency, what I'm relieved by is actually dangerous. It was a relief that Generals were there to keep his finger off the button. But it's a terrible precedent to have Generals control the president. Likewise, its a relief to have the CIA's leader persuade Trump to take allies seriously. But a presidency should not be swayed by CIA tactics.
What if Trump gets reelected, or a Trump-like candidate become President, and this pattern continues? This is how some governments get overthrown by the military. It's not just because generals want power. It's because people feel they're better than politicians.
31
@Brian The chances of trump reading the NYT is zero! Don't worry about it.
5
Perhaps she should show him photos of Yemeni children injured or killed by American bombs. Trump is a fool who doesn’t understand complexity and nuance, it’s all black and white, what can he gain from it.
36
There's nothing you can do when Trump has business interests with the Saudis. I believe she's done her best.
7
No surprise here. Trump listens to his gut which is filled with gas. He has no capacity to listen to ideas that may contradict what he hears from the hallucinatory voices of his deluded mind, Fox News and Internet Trolls.
12
Now let me see, have I got this right? The head of the CIA gives the President of the United States of America a fly paper to occupy his childish mind while the adults get down to business. It's reassuring that POTUS can find something to distract him from ruining America. May I suggest that Ms Haspel try a rattle next time
34