General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf I were a member of Congress, I would vote "Yes" to Gina Haspel.
Number 1: She is a career CIA operative and administrator. (Experience)
Number 2: She lives and breathes CIA. (Dedication)
Number 3: She is not political. (Impartiality)
Number 4: She worked for both Democratic and Republican administrations. (Apolitical)
Number 5: She did what she was told to do with respect to the tapes. It was a complicated issue then and now. (Doing what needs to be done)
Number 5: See the lead pronoun in each of my statements. SHE is qualified to run an agency that is, by definition, engaged in nasty business.
I know some of you all see my position on this as misguided. We will have to agree to disagree.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,080 posts)bottomofthehill
(8,261 posts)PubliusEnigma
(1,583 posts)That's why Trump likes her.
hlthe2b
(101,714 posts)I can appreciate your argument. But, it just seems like a no win choice, as I surely don't like sending a message that torture and its coverup is ok.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)Will you be glad that you're on record as supporting torture sanctioned by our government at the highest levels?
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,297 posts)Of course you're entitled to your opinion.
I am entitled to mine.
I believe I hold the higher ground.
Me.
(35,454 posts)Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)We must agree to disagree.
average_mo_dem
(37 posts)But I have no idea what the heck the pronoun has to do with it.
leftstreet
(36,078 posts)If they can't run a country's intelligence service without torturing people, they need to fuck off and admit there's either something wrong with the agency or the country itself
No to Haspel
spanone
(135,632 posts)Solly Mack
(90,740 posts)All too willing to lie about torture. Cover up torture. Pretend torture isn't torture. Pretend torture can be legal if you call it something else. All too willing to forget unpleasantness because, gosh darnit, ain't we the good guys?!?!. All too willing to embrace denial like it's the parent they've been yearning for all their life.
Sickness.
G_j
(40,366 posts)and the answer should be loud and clear. Torture is never acceptable.
Solly Mack
(90,740 posts)Well, OK - maybe she won't be but good money is on the sickness prevailing. It has so far.
The war criminals - with very few nothing exceptions- got away with their crimes against humanity and America has pretty much accepted that torture as something they just can't do anything about. While some refuse to even accept America committed war crimes.
Some pretend it's a matter of debate.
Haspel should be in prison and not about to become head of the CIA, but...well..look at how some people speak about Bush these days?
See what I mean?
DeminPennswoods
(15,246 posts)It didn't work for the Germans and it shouldn't for her either. Further, she did not have the moral courage to stand up to her career civil service superiors when it came to torture and refuse to partake in it. If confirmed she would be working for a President who not only condones torture, but wants it to be even harsher. If she couldn't/wouldn't stand up to her CIA bosses, how will she ever stand up to Trump?
I don't care how qualified she might be or that she might be the first female CIA director or how many terrorists she may have captured legitimately, she approved of torture, ran a black site that committed torture and helped destroy evidence of those crimes.
She is a war criminal. Period. Stop.
procon
(15,805 posts)That alone should be a disqualifier.
2,3,4 are subjective and have little impact on her ability to run that agency. So, if #5 is out, now she's down to #1, and they must have other people with experience.
Wounded Bear
(58,437 posts)With the hope that she learned something from her experiences.
DeminPennswoods
(15,246 posts)What she deserves is a fair trial at The Hague for War Crimes, not a promotion at the CIA.