On the one hand, Gina Haspel is unquestionably tough, smart, and experienced. Her paper credentials to run the CIA are unassailable. On the other hand, it is undisputed that she personally participated in egregious acts of torture during the Bush years. That’s a big problem.
When she is asked about this during her confirmation hearings, how will she respond? I don’t see any good answers:
- If she defends the program, she’s automatically disqualified;
- If she says she was following orders, why would we believe she wouldn’t do it again, since her boss openly supports torture?
- If she gives herself a pass by saying the times were exceptionally difficult, how do we know we won’t see more difficult times during her tenure as CIA head?
- If she says she, and the CIA, have learned from the experience and won’t do it again, why should we believe that, and how will Trump react?
Appointing a torturer sends exactly the wrong message to the rest of the world. There has to be someone equally qualified who doesn’t have that stain on his resume.
She should not be confirmed.