Trump defends CIA nominee, calls on her to 'win'

 

Nominee to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel arrives for meetings with Senators on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., May 7, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday defended his pick to run the CIA after sources said she had sought to withdraw from the nomination over concerns about her involvement in the agency's interrogation programme.

 

Gina Haspel is expected to face a challenging confirmation hearing in the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday. Two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Sunday she had offered to step aside for fear the hearing would damage the CIA.

The Washington Post first reported her offer to withdraw.

 

"My highly respected nominee for CIA Director, Gina Haspel, has come under fire because she was too tough on Terrorists . Win Gina!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

 

Trump nominated Haspel, who would be the first woman to lead the intelligence agency, to succeed Mike Pompeo, who has become secretary of state.

 

Critics of Haspel's nomination have taken issue with her role in a defunct programme in which the CIA detained and interrogated al Qaeda suspects in secret prisons abroad using techniques, including waterboarding, widely condemned as torture.

 

Former President George W. Bush authorized the Rendition, Detention and Interrogation Program after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

 

Many details of Haspel's work remain classified. Sources familiar with her career who requested anonymity said she was at one point the chief of the CIA station in a country where harsh interrogations were used on at least one terrorism suspect.

 

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Haspel "is 100 percent committed to going through this confirmation process and being confirmed as the next leader of the CIA."

 

(Reporting by Makini Brice; Editing by Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-08

"Critics of Haspel's nomination have taken issue with her role in a defunct programme in which the CIA detained and interrogated al Qaeda suspects in secret prisons abroad using techniques, including waterboarding, widely condemned as torture."

 

everything in this paragraph rings true, except that one word, defunct.

1 hour ago, webfact said:

she had sought to withdraw from the nomination over concerns about her involvement in the agency's interrogation programme.

Normally a reason to withdraw regars something negative, that makes a person unfit for duty. Here it clearly states that she already have knowledge about and have developed functions in the same sector the nomination regards. Can it be more f****ed up?

Cant see the sense.

Like all his other appointees she'll be elbowed within 6 months.

Hey,  

What's wrong with a little waterboarding?

It's a great way to get somebody to say anything to save their life.

 

5 hours ago, alfalfa19 said:

Critics of Haspel's nomination have taken issue with her role in a defunct programme in which the CIA detained and interrogated al Qaeda suspects

My bold. This is the thing I take issue with. Many people were booted out of Guantanamo without any shred of evidence ever even being presented against them, having been picked up because they had the wrong name. Torture is not the way forward (note that word) and the information generally received is rubbish. If people don't know anything they will be tortured more and then they will make it up to stop the torture. A nation with the intelligence assets possessed by the USA does not need torture. Unless of course like the current administration you do not trust your intelligence agencies. People use torture for one reason - they enjoy it.