Campaign Action
The nomination of Gina Haspel to be CIA director has hit a major snag, as dozens of military officers have written to senators, opposing her confirmation because of her actions in the CIA in the Bush administration.
"We are deeply troubled," the retired officers write, "by the prospect of someone who appears to have been intimately involved in torture being elevated to one of the most important positions of leadership in the intelligence community." They refer to Haspel's role running a "black site" prison in Thailand where suspects were tortured and at least one detainee, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri was repeatedly tortured and waterboarded, and her role in overseeing "the CIA's entire interrogation program—a program that was rife with mismanagement and abuse."
We understand that some well-respected former senior government intelligence officials have spoken highly of Ms. Haspel's experience and long record of service to the Agency. However, we do not accept efforts to excuse her actions relating to torture and other unlawful abuse of detainees by offering that she was "just following orders," or that shock from the 9/11 terrorist attacks should excuse illegal and unethical conduct. We did not accept the "just following orders" justification after World War II, and we should not accept it now. Waterboarding and other forms of torture or cruel and inhuman treatment are—and always have been—clearly unlawful. Individuals in the service of our country, even at the lowest levels, have a duty to refuse to carry out such actions. […]
We devoted our lives to the defense of our country. We know that fidelity to our most cherished ideals as a nation is the foundation of our security. The torture and cruel treatment of prisoners undermines our national security by increasing the risks to our troops, hindering cooperation with allies, alienating populations whose support the United States needs in the struggle against terrorism, and providing a propaganda tool for extremists who wish to do us harm. It would send a terrible signal to confirm as the next Director of the CIA someone who was so intimately involved in this dark chapter of our nation's history.
The officers are advising senators to request a full declassification, with necessary redactions, of information related to Haspel's involvement in the program. "If the record shows that Ms. Haspel played any role in carrying out, supervising, or directing any form of torture or detainee abuse, or the destruction of evidence relating to these activities," they conclude, "we urge you to reject her nomination." The CIA has been engaged in a unusual PR campaign promoting Haspel, and as part of that declassified one memo praising her decision to destroy videotapes of torture being conducted in that Thai black site.
Haspel's hearing in the Intelligence Committee is scheduled for May 9.