Jeremy Scahill: Obama Paved Way for Haspel to Head CIA by Failing to Hold Torturers Accountable

democracynow.org - On Capitol Hill Wednesday, President Trump’s nominee to head the CIA, Gina Haspel, announced she would not restart the CIA’s interrogation program. But she repeatedly refused to call the CIA’s post-9/11 treatment of prisoners “torture,” and declined to state whether she believes torture is immoral. Haspel’s comments came in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee, as she made her case to become the first woman to head the agency. Haspel is a 33-year CIA veteran who was responsible for running a secret CIA black site in Thailand in 2002, where one prisoner was waterboarded and tortured in other ways. Haspel also oversaw the destruction of videotapes showing torture at the black site. At least two Republican senators have come out against her-Rand Paul and John McCain, who said her “role in overseeing the use of torture is disturbing & her refusal to acknowledge torture’s immorality is disqualifying.” But Haspel may still be confirmed with the help of Democratic lawmakers. Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has already announced he will back Haspel. We speak with Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of The Intercept and host of the weekly podcast “Intercepted.”
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[@Monkismo]

"The CIA follows the law." Thanks Gina, I needed a laugh today.

[@alliellioxenfree]

Ha she had me at 'moral superiority'! XD

[@davidbrasher3595]

Why can't they hold people in contempt of congress if they refuse to answer yes/no questions?

[@llibeel]

Because it's all a big show. There is no criminal charge or verdict involved with a congressional hearing.

[@TiagoMorbusSa]

Because if they don't arrest torturers and sexual predators but instead put them in high positions of power, not holding people in contempt of congress is the LEAST of the problems here.

[@SandroAerogen]

Because answering a question with only a yes or a no doesn't allow you to deconstruct the premises under which the question was made. Example: "Was it pleasant when you raped and killed a little girl yesterday? You are only allowed to answer yes or no."

[@andrewalton5042]

These sentate hearings are such a waste of time, no one ever answers the questions

[@AcesAndNates]

Andre Walton Let's give the illusion that we haven't decided on these matters before the hearing. The Comey Hearing felt similar albeit for different reasons.

[@bennattj]

You're completely right. I watched The History Channel's documentary on the Nixon impeachment (a bafflingly, because it was The History Channel, great documentary btw). It was amazing watching the hearings from that documentary: _these people actually answered the damn questions!!!_

[@ElectricCult]

Haspel: "torture is immoral, but then again, so am I".

[@nancymesek]

I hate that Senators don’t force them to answer the questions. The moment they didn’t answer yes or no, they should stop them in their tracks. Manchin to already say he’ll support her is equally sickening. When Haspell said she had given all information about her work, Harris should’ve said, ‘Well, not really, because your destroyed history, so we don’t have ALL of your info’.

[@oldfan1963]

Excellent point!

[@trippplefive]

Nancy Mesek it's by design. Kamala Harris also let Manuchin go free after he did some illegal shit. who's paying CIA's salaries? how they are not accountable to the people should be the envy of brutal dictators and corrupt governments .

[@moviedude22]

Nancy Mesek....they fear her and the power of the entire covert Intelligence apparatus

[@Jmriccitelli]

why would they ask tough questions?

[@AcesAndNates]

They do have the right to remain silent

[@cristianerehem13]

The image of the sênior official being held and harmed with so much, desproporcional, unnecessary and unjustifiable violence by the police outside the hearing is the symbol of the hypocrisy the world has always lived in, but in a absurd manner: If they did that, on camera whose tapes were not erased, to a US Citizen, very old, a former official of the same agency and just because his presence and opposition could minimally interfere with a political and expected bureaucratic action, imagine what they did to foreign suspects of alleged terrorism, on a site outside of the public view, authorized by law, and whose images and procedures were safely put out of range of public accountability… The scene of violent restraint to pacific demonstrators against state violence, outside a room in which the Congress politicians were testing a chief to an agency who does the same thing, with more status and machiavelism, and trying to make her confess moral limits to the controversial role of the work they do in the CIA, is like saying “we are pacific and educated victims of terrorism because we invade countries to oblige them to surrender to a kind of democracy and freedom of speech that we did not allow to our own citizens, in our territory, who try to put it to a test”. How can anyone believe in the horror show that all the people in most of countries watch as the theater of the powerful? Dark age of world politics gets worse with no sign of strong politicians and organized groups with enough sustainability to fight back and change structures, in a short term at least. It was unnecessary too ask Haspel for the truth, just look at the way police acts, and save time, money and a little respect. Just a little bit. As a brazilian citizen who follows a little of US politics, in a country which is under a coup d’Etat sponsored by US agencies and government officials, I feel sorry for both countries’ people, and for those around the world victims of the US pervasive and unrespectful totalitarianism, like Iêmen, palestines and now, Iran. Sad times, mad leaders, bad people in control: If people do not react, Will the Nature? Sampa/SP, 10/05/2018 - 19:08

[@Tupelo927]

cristiane n. vieira Excellent points all around & very well written, particularly if English isn't your first language. I've watched reports on what Brasil is going through & my heart aches for you & your fellow citizens. Constant chaos is very stressful & takes a toll, both physically & mentally. There ARE still good people in the world. If we forfeit hope, we lose everything. My best to you from the United States.

[@cautious1343]

cristiane n. vieira: I hate to say it, but what you have written here is just the tip of the iceberg.

[@shiningarmor3597]

US law enforcement response to protesting torture, torture and arrest...

[@SandroAerogen]

"STOP RESISTING!" - Six cops holding down a non resisting septuagenarian with a broken arm.

[@nickpeterson6647]

Let me help, Yes, It's immoral

[@owlnationlegal4228]

Perhaps the CIA should waterboard Senators before they vote on behalf of voters. Perhaps a nation that supports torture should not expect to survive; no other has. Heads up Israel. Cya. Bbye.

[@Saul-kg9ps]

You can thank Barack Obama

[@andreakae4211]

Thank god there were 8 officers there to hold down that old man before he really hurt someone with words.

[@joshcourt1393]

So sad what they did to Ray McGovern at this hearing. It seems its to late to change any of this. Abandon ship? Wish I could afford to. #dividedandconquered #norepresentation #trappedinamerica

[@robjames3864]

Jeremy Scahill is a American patriot. One brave man to speak out against criminal shadow government.

[@rosecityremona]

What the hell is the country becoming?

[@Stinky95030]

"becoming?" it's _been_ this way for almost 20 years and probably decades more!

[@fe3600]

Jeremy is pretty spot on point

[@karenskinner9044]

Thank you, Jeremy Scahill!

[@randyham273]

Haspel just doesn't seem to think moral considerations are relevant in the face of terrorism, and we as the public can take that or leave it. It would at least be nice if she said it that way so we could all see her for who she is.

[@crushlies]

She needs to BE arrested and she calls herself a WOMAN, YES WO-MEN!!!!! Those senators need to be calling for arrest.

[@tertiary7]

"Is that legal?" ... "I will make it legal." - Darth Sidious

[@muffin6369]

They decided to torture Zayn right off the bat when they picked him up in Faisalabad. He then was kept alive, questioned by Ali Soufan, and then sent to Green. Bloody Gina.

[@craigholman1161]

And beyond torture, I would have asked if the CIA supported undermining and overthrowing sovereign countries and democratically elected leaders, i.e. Iran 1953, Guatamala 1954, Chili 1973, Central America with El Salvador and Nicaragua. And there are many more examples of the USA and CIA misadventures throughout the world.

[@oldfan1963]

It is especially sickening when a corrupt American pol -- Dem or Rep -- starts questioning somebody else's "morality."

[@lynnkelley6655]

I always thought this was Obama's greatest error of international consequences. We cannot torture--it is not "going high" to ignore the rule of law by neglecting just punishment of those who tortured without objection for the inhumanity or regard for the Geneva Convention. Anyone who says the so-called "laws" written by the Bush Administration to justify torture--again, in direct contradiction to the Geneva Convention--were true, or just, is dead wrong. People who would torture pose the greatest danger to the United States and her servicemen because those people have no regard for humanity. Inhumanity cannot stand long among humane beings. Obama's second biggest mistake was in continuing the war on drugs and the imprisonment of a greater percentage of its citizens under inhumane and unjust conditions than any other country in the world. Still, I think history will look kindly on much of what Barrack Obama accomplished despite great obstacles. It's this current and most corrupt of all administrations that has to go, right now (vote, vote, vote), or there will be little of democracy left to mend. We need marathon citizens, recruits who can patch all day long and come back for more the next day (like Goodman). Most of us are getting old and the mending is already so full of holes, at this point, that it will take years of massive repairs. So roll up your sleeves--that's progress. Stay vigilant, stay organized, resist.

[@oliverloman8282]

Gina Haspel before being given the post she be entitled to a forty day placement in a enhanced interrogation program dark site ! ! ! ! !

[@baketeach]

To defeat your enemy one must become your enemy... Why have we pussified ourselves?

[@hellojam100]

Dianne Feinstein will vot 'yes' if needed

[@Carol-nk9oe]

Scahill for PRESIDENT !!!

[@PictureThisNewMedia]

Wow and Democrats say they want human rights but two are supporting Gina seriously?! Who are those senators let's write them

[@IMZ44]

Haspel is a skilled liar. Some lawmakers did call her out on Yes/No questions, but timer always stops them from knowing the truth.

[@tommedlin3009]

DEMON

[@cautious1343]

Same shit, different day. Haspel refuses to answer the question. But she gets away with it anyway. And gets the job. Perhaps if she were interogated with the same techniques that she used we might get an answer

[@independentthinker315]

She can't be trusted

[@Jan96106]

He talks so tough, but Trump would change his mind in two seconds, maybe one, if someone waterboarded him and he got to see what it was like. I don't mean he would develop a conscience about how his actions/words affect others. He'd merely want to stop his own pain/fear.

[@muffin6369]

It was alled Green and it was merely a house offered by Thaiwanese General Tritot. She would be in the cells and she wasn't an interrogator

[@chipwalter4490]

I hope Joe Manchin looses to his Republican rival. We need him gone.

[@peterhardie4151]

Nice one Scahill, fuck em up.

[@krisballard541]

Gina Haspel is an awful woman.

[@winstonsmith-ministryoftru1609]

Scahill at 04:08, after a re-run of what you saw in the headlines.

[@PictureThisNewMedia]

I never watched the tapes?! Why not just censor the officers face before it would allegedly be "leaked".

[@boeingdriver29]

McCain and Paul....strange bed fellows.

[@suziegreer7975]

JEREMY SCAHILL I BET YOU DIDNT KNOW THAT YOUR AMERICAN HAD ME PAYING £2000.00 INTO THE DOUBLE COUP IT WAS BACK PAY THAT WAS GOING TO BE USED FOR A SENSORY ROOM

[@caro_es]

Reed asks some good questions.

[@suziegreer7975]

I'm trying to protect america

[@johannesvandoesburg1869]

Would you buy a used car from that woman ( she's no lady) ?

[@wilhelmheinzerling5341]

14:55 To the victor goes the spoils

[@ladjikone1145]

CIA is band

[@omaramoo1509]

baca tortured us in lacj & he stands next 2 trump

[@andychrist338]

Obama is a saint!

[@watchthis12day]

#whitesupremacystillexists

[@budjohnson2930]

This is selective editing.

[@karensinclair1256]

Jeremy an the GOP need to send their pay checks to Obama

[@hansgopherfish6367]

I thought your choice to call Haskel a "torturer" in the title of a previous video was a bit misleading. It implies that she was the one who actually did the torturing, when her role was to run the program. I've been growimg concerned because you seem to be making questionable editorial decisions more and more often these days...