Trump and Like-Minded Supporter for Torture
Policy
(Gina
Haspel: She Thinks Just Like Trump)
Updated (May
10, 2018) - from her Senate nomination hearing:
My take away thus far on her nomination: She may have supported and run
the programs of torture, but who in the CIA was against it? I’d like to know
and here from them.
Torture (the so-called enhanced interrogation program) is simply a buzzword
for torture and yes, waterboarding is torture and a war crime. It has been classified
as torture for centuries and more currently by the U.S. and UN and Geneva Convention
Articles on Torture (International rules for decades and which the U.S. agreed
and signed onto).
Now Ms. Haspel says: “We followed the wrong moral compass” – Ho Lee Sheet
statement – watch
this short video clip here.
The whole senate coverage of the testimony follows:
Total of some 160 minutes
The original post follows
from here:
This update from Vox.com is also critical to this issue of Trump's nominee story – re: CIA director nomination and conformation from Politico here:
Senate
Republican leaders and White House officials are confident they will be able to
confirm Gina Haspel to lead the CIA by the end of the month, barring any
explosive revelation at her confirmation hearing this week. The Republicans
believe they can get a handful of other Democrats to push Haspel across the
finish line to get the 50 votes needed to confirm her.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is considered
highly likely to support her. He is a moderate up for reelection this year and he posed
for a photo alongside Haspel after a private meeting and he later said:
“Appreciated it so much, Gina coming and speaking with me.”
Sen. Tom “Hates the Iran Nuke Deal”
Cotton (R-AR) said: “Gina
Haspel will be voted out of the Intelligence Committee on a bipartisan basis
and she will be confirmed by the full Senate on a bipartisan basis. I hope that
will happen, and will happen before Memorial Day so she can get down to the
serious business at hand.
Sticking points that should stick, and
rightly so, but may not stick:
· Haspel faces tough
questions over her role in overseeing the use of harsh interrogation the
“so-called enhanced techniques that included waterboarding.
· And then she
supervised the destruction of videotapes documenting those act.
· She had the power to
declassify information as acting CIA director but did not and declined publicly
to disclose more material about that controversial period of her career.
Story continues at the two links above Politico and Vox above.
=================================================
From Vox a very key part re: is torture and waterboarding effective?
Short answer: No, never, case in point:
From Vox a very key part re: is torture and waterboarding
effective? Short answer: No, never, case in point:
Two of the most brutal
interrogations — that of two suspected al-Qaeda operatives, Abu
Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri — took place at Detention Site Green that
Haspel managed and although there has been much confusion on that point, it now
appears, according to ProPublica (Haspel
oversaw the interrogation) only of the latter.
This
is the true story Abu Zubaydah that I posted about earlier here and
these 20
key parts of the released Senate interrogation report.
Related and noteworthy:
Some 92
video tapes were destroyed by the CIA in November 2005 after a report
by CIA IG John L. Helgerson’s office, had determined that they depicted
“… cruel,
inhuman, and degrading treatment, as defined by the International Convention
Against Torture.”
My 2 Cents: Based on my many years and experience
and training as an interrogator all around the globe, I have said this
constantly and consistently:
She is very poor choice for so many reasons that I
could type all day – suffice it to say just a couple of items background:
Haspel is flat out wrong as well as anyone else who
falsely believes that “torture works and that waterboarding is not torture,”
torture DOES NOT work and yes, waterboarding is torture by any definition. Now
Trump says “we'll do more than waterboard – it works.” No, sir it
does not. Please allow me to demonstrate on you okay?
Haspel's excuse: “I was just following orders.
So, you decide: Is Donald J. Trump wrong or not
about torture and it works and he wants more?
If you support Trump on this issue, then is he on the
verge of advocating a serious war crime in advance? Is he worthy to be our
President? Above the law, um? I see, I see.
The
John Yoo & Jay Bybee memo — 81 pages says in essence that enhanced
enhanced interrogation (buzzword for torture) has OLC's blessings which was
approved by Bush-Cheney, et al in essence changed the law...
Haspel now citing that excuse failed at Nuremberg for
Nazis in 1945, and now fails once again here in 2018. Haspel and all others
were obliged to say no – they should have known the rules and law – not plead
ignorance or the Nazi excuse.
They did not and they should have been brought up on
charges.
This is a total disgrace for our country and it will
not go away – ever.
Stay tuned … see whose side this GOP is really on:
standing for or against torture – that is the test for them.
Thanks for stopping by.
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