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posted by Fnord666 on Saturday May 19 2018, @06:09PM   Printer-friendly

Veteran spy Gina Haspel will become the first female director of the CIA after six Democrats joined Republicans in a Senate confirmation vote that overrode concerns about her role in the spy agency's harsh interrogation program after 9/11.

Thursday's 54-45 vote split both parties, and the margin was the closest for a CIA nominee in the nearly seven decades that a nod from the Senate has been required. Haspel, who has spent nearly all of her 33-year CIA career in undercover positions, is the first career operations officer to be confirmed since William Colby in 1973.

Haspel, 61, is a native of Kentucky but grew up around the world as the daughter of an Air Force serviceman. She worked in Africa, Europe and classified locations around the globe and was tapped as deputy director of the CIA last year.

Source: Fox News

Also at the New York Times, CNN[warning: autoplay video], and Vox among others.


Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 2, Troll) by realDonaldTrump on Saturday May 19 2018, @10:45PM (2 children)

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Saturday May 19 2018, @10:45PM (#681693) Homepage Journal

    Obama was killing Americans at will with drones but waterboarding was not allowed -- only in America!

    Starting Score:    1  point
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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 20 2018, @12:16AM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday May 20 2018, @12:16AM (#681713)

    I had this ready then didn't submit it.

    .
    Common Dreams reports
    "Black Mark in Our History": Six Democrats Join GOP to Confirm Torturer Gina Haspel as CIA Chief [commondreams.org]

    "The confirmation of Gina Haspel marks the completion of President Trump's new war cabinet", [said] Paul Kawika Martin, Peace Action's senior director for policy and political affairs. "We now have a Bush-era neocon serving as national security adviser, an Islamophobic war hawk as Secretary of State, and a torturer as CIA director."

    [...]The 54-45 vote came before many senators had even been able to review crucial components of Haspel's record, in large part because as acting CIA director, Haspel herself had final declassification authority over what was and wasn't made available to lawmakers for review.

    [...]With two Republicans--Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.)--voting no and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) not voting, the six Democrats who voted Yes provided the key support [twitter.com] to make Haspel America's next CIA chief.

    [...]the six Senate Democrats who voted to confirm Haspel: Mark Warner (Va.), Bill Nelson (Fla.), Jeanne Shaheen (N.H.), Heidi Heitkamp (N.D.), Joe Manchin (W.Va.), and Joe Donnelly (Ind.).

    Are all you youngsters ready for reinstatement of The Draft? [wikipedia.org]
    N.B. Be sure to get a note from your physician real soon "certifying" your bone spurs.

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]