For several hours Wednesday a veteran member of the Central Intelligence Agency, Gina Haspel, had to endure question after question from U. S. senators about torture. She repeated time after time that she would obey the law and hold the CIA to the same standard as our national values demand. Telling them, "I would not allow the CIA to undertake activity that I thought was immoral--even if it was technically legal." Most of these senators are not worthy to carry Haspel's briefcase much less question her on this so-called "moral high ground" they seem so concerned about--now. But where were they when the biggest terrorist attack in history took place on the 11th of September 2001? Haspel--who is now the assistant director--was in the field desperately trying to track down who did this horrific act and to find out FAST. Was another "shoe" about to drop? The work was (and still is) hard and failure was not an option. We gave the CIA permission to get the job done including waterboarding which has since been declared "torture." Waterboarding is NOT torture--it's torturous but torture it is not no matter what the men and women in black robes say. Waterboarding is effective--very effective.
She added that valuable information gained from debriefing senior al-Qaida operatives--and that it was impossible to determine whether "interrogation techniques played a role in that." The senate was given a full briefing of what the CIA was doing in 2002 and 2003 and they were given that august body's apostolic blessing to "keep up the good work" and what said agency was doing was in full compliance with the law and nothing they were doing was illegal. This came from President Bush, the attorney general and the courts. Because the left and the media (since they could care less about national security) has made such a fuss about so-called torture in the form of waterboarding we've since outlawed the practice. It's obvious that she was obeying the law then and is obeying the law now. She told the panel that she appreciates the law and would not reinstate that technique even if the president ordered her to. Senator John McCain (R-Az) has urged his colleagues not to vote for her approval because of "...her refusal to acknowledge torture's immorality is disqualifying." That stems from his treatment in North Vietnamese prison cells 50 years ago. But the CIA ain't the North Vietnamese--they don't break arms and shoulders and other beatings McCain was subjected to. With all do respect, Senator McCain--go away and shut up!
Senator Mark Warner (D-Va) the panel's vice chairman, agreed that Haspel is "among the most experienced people to be nominated" to lead the CIA. So why is he waffeling? Because he said he and many others have questions "about the message the Senate would be sending by confirming someone for this position who served as a supervisor in the counterterrorism center during the time of the CIA's rendition, detention, and interrogation program." So let me get this straight--he has questions about her carrying out her orders then given the green light by the Senate but worries she won't obey the law now? Really? Then she had to put up with Senator Kamala Harris, Dembulb from California (where else?), whether she now views the CIA's interrogation program as immoral. Frankly, I'd have liked Haspel to just throw it right back at these cretins who now are SO concerned about our "moral high ground." I wish she had just fired right back at Harris, "Yes, I was out hunting down terrorists to keep us from killing you sorry butt." What "moral high ground" and American values have Harris and other Democretins and some Republicans cared about recently. Didn't they just vote on a budget that gave another $500,000,000 to Planned Parenthood to continue to abort babies? I consider killing babies in the womb and selling their body parts a lot more cruel and torture than waterboarding ever was or will ever be.
Pray Hasbel gets the job. The country will be a lot better off and lives saved...including these pathetic members of this Senate committee.