New Head of C.I.A. Tortured Muslims and Destroyed Files

New Head of C.I.A. Tortured Muslims and Destroyed Files

New Head of C.I.A. Tortured Muslims and Destroyed Files

President Donald Trump’s nomination for director of C.I.A. is linked with a dark history

Tuesday was a busy day for President Trump’s national security group. Rex Tillerson was fired as Secretary of State. Taking his place will be Mike Pompeo, currently the C.I.A. Director. C.I.A. operative Gina Haspel will replace Pompeo as the intelligence agency’s director.

New Head of C.I.A. Tortured Muslims and Destroyed Files[/tweetthis]

Dark history of C.I.A.

Gina Haspel has a dark past, which has led to a lot of controversies. While she was an operative for the C.I.A., she was involved in torturing two suspects of terrorism, held in a secret prison in Thailand.

During the darker days of the intelligence agency, its personnel had participated in the torture program. Numerous C.I.A. leaders have defended the involvement of their personnel. Although these torture methods are banned, President Donald Trump believes torture gets the job done[/tweetit]. Mike Pompeo, who was the director of C.I.A., stated that certain techniques such as waterboarding don’t fall under the term “torture.” He also praised the people who used these methods while they were fighting against the terrorist group Al Qaeda.

During the majority of Gina Haspel’s career in the C.I.A., she was an undercover agent. As a result of this, Pompeo’s description covers the actions of Haspel. She was directly involved in the agency’s program, which captured militants, handed them over to various foreign governments, kept them in secret facilities and tortured them.

The C.I.A. had a detention center in Thailand, where Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri and Abu Zubaydah, two detainees were held. Zubaydah was tortured several times in a month before the interrogators decided that he wasn’t carrying any useful information.

All the torture sessions were recorded and stored in Thailand’s detention center until 2005. Haspel was involved in the drafting of a cable, which had orders to destroy the torture videos.

Haspel faces opposition

American Civil Liberties Union’s deputy director, Christopher Anders, asked the C.I.A. to declassify all torture records of Haspel. Arizona senator John McCain also asked for Haspel to clarify her involvement in the interrogation program. He called the torturing of detainees as “one of the darkest chapters in American history.”

If the Senate confirms her, she will be the first woman to head the intelligence agency. President Donald Trump called her an outstanding individual. He also said he got to know her personally.

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